Kingdom Hearts Reversed 2
by Brooser
Summary: The 4th installment in my KH Reversed series. When Keyblade Master Riku wakes from a year-long slumber, he'd like to just return home - but with new enemies like Organization XIV causing trouble, waking may be the beginning of a whole new adventure.
1. The 1st Day: Thief

((Welcome to the 4th entry in my **Kingdom Hearts Reversed** series! As before, this is the story of Kingdom Hearts in an alternate timeline, and what might have happened if Riku had received the Keyblade instead of Sora when their island was destroyed, as well as everything that would have changed. If you've never heard of "Kingdom Hearts Reversed" before, I'd strongly recommend reading the others in the series: **Kingdom Hearts: Reversed** (which parallels Kingdom Hearts 1), **Kingdom Hearts: Reversed Memories** (which parallels Chain of Memories), and **Kingdom Hearts Reversed: 358/3 Days **(which parallels KH: 358/2 Days). If you don't, you might end up being somewhat confused, since the events in those three stories are what bring us here, to what is essentially a parallel version of Kingdom Hearts 2. You can find all three stories on my page; just search for me, the author "Brooser".

If you HAVE been following along from the start, welcome back! As I said, **Kingdom Hearts Reversed 2** is basically in the same place in the series as KH2: it starts off directly where Kingdom Hearts Reversed: 358/3 Days left off. I'm really excited about this one; with Reversed Memories and Days, I was constrained to somewhat restrictive "13 Floors" and "Xurik goes on different missions every day" formats. But if you've ever played KH2, you know that it goes batshit crazy - so you can expect this story to be equally chaotic and cool as the differing events begin to pile up. I apologize for the delay; I've been busy with school and stuff.

So, without further ado, I present... **Kingdom Hearts Reversed 2**. ))

* * *

Waves quietly lapped at the dark shore. Clouds blotted a dark sky - the only light came from a silvery moon, sitting far along the horizon. There was no vegitation on this shore, only dark stone.

A hooded figure stepped forth from the shadows. He moved forward slowly across the sand, approaching a second figure sitting on one of the rocks. After a moment, the second figure spoke.

"I've been to see him. He looks a lot like you."

He just felt confused and empty. "Who are you?"

The sitting figure gazed off into the ocean solemnly. "I'm what's left. Or... maybe I'm all there ever was."

"I meant your name."

"My name is of no importance. What about you? Do you remember your true name?"

The boy paused. What was the answer? Why was his mind blank?

"My true name is..."

* * *

"Riku..."

**011010110110010101111001**

A silver haired boy walking down a beach, a log over his arm. Who is he?

"Hey, aren't you guys forgetting about me?" the boy says, grinning. "So I guess I'm the only one working on the raft..."

He turns to a girl with red hair. "And you're just as lazy as he is-"

More static, obscuring her face. Who was she?

**011010110110010101111001**

Another boy, wearing red... the silver-haired boy racing him down a beach.

"Giving up already?"

**011010110110010101111001**

"If there are other worlds out there, why did we end up on this one?"

The three children are sitting on an island, resting on a tree-trunk...

**011010110110010101111001**

"You've been thinking a lot lately, haven't you?"

The silver-haired boy smiles at the girl. "If you hadn't come here, I probably would've never thought of any of this. Kai-"

Static, obscuring her face once more. They all seemed so familiar, if he could just remember _why_...

**011010110110010101111001**

A sudden storm, ravaging the island. The girl huddles close to the silver-haired boy.

"What are we going to do?" she cries out in fear.

"G...go to the Secret Place! I think you'll be safe there. I'm going to try to figure out what's up with this storm!"

**011010110110010101111001**

"The way is opened. This world has been connected... tied to the darkness."

A figure hidden by a brown cloak. The boy gasps, mesmerized, despite the raging storm overhead.

"So... we can go to other worlds now?"

"If you embrace the darkness... it will be so."

**011010110110010101111001**

"The door has opened, Sora!" the boy said in excitement. "Now we can go to the outside world!"

"What are you talking about? We've gotta find Kai-"

**011010110110010101111001**

"We can't let fear stop us!" The boy clenched his fist. "I'm not afraid of the darkness!"

The brown-haired boy looks at him fearfully.

"Riku..."

* * *

_**The 1st Day**_

Xurik sat up in bed. The warm light from the setting sun filtered in through his window, filling his bedroom. He winced, clutching his head.

"I dreamt about him again..." Why did images of that silver-haired boy keep popping up while he was sleeping? It was so strange. Whoever heard of someone dreaming about the same person every single night? He had no idea who the boy was supposed to be.

Distantly, the bells on the Station Plaza clock tower began to chime, shaking him from his thoughts. He peered out of the window at the setting sun, never moving. He grinned; time for another day of summer break. His friends were bound to be waiting for him by the Sandlot.

He got dressed as quickly as possible, then made his way out of the house and into the quiet streets of Twilight Town, setting off into a running pace. There was no real rush - aside from the beginning of the school year slowly creeping toward them. He just couldn't wait to hang out with his friends. The best thing about summer vacation was the endless possibility. They could take a train ride, or practice for the Struggle match, or get sea-salt ice cream, or...

"Maybe... today we'll finally hit the beach!" he blurted out excitedly. The idea had been on his mind for a while now... maybe soon they would get the chance to actually go. They needed to hurry up; time was slowly running out.

_Only seven days to go, and then my summer vacation's over._

* * *

Xurik stared at the dusty ground, deep in thought as he sat slumped over the bench. The burst of energy and enthusiasm that he had felt upon waking had fizzled out - as much as he tried to focus on the conversation at hand, he couldn't stop thinking about the dreams he had been having. This was his last week of summer break, right? So why couldn't he enjoy himself?

"Xurik, what do you think?"

"Huh?" the steel-haired boy said, glancing up in surprise. Seifer was looking down at him expectantly. "Uh... I mean... you're probably right," he said, taking a stab in the dark. What were they talking about again?

"Yeah! It's gotta be Hayner's gang, y'know?" Rai said, scowling. "Who else could it be?"

"Bizarre," Fuu said quietly. The blue-haired girl wasn't one for words, but Rai nodded enthusiastically all the same.

"But why would they do it?" Vivi asked, staring up at them.

The blonde boy smirked, then nodded. He resumed his pacing across the sandlot. "Yeah, I mean, it's kind of a weird thing to steal. Hayner's group _does_ have a score to settle with us, though... they're the only ones who would have a motive. Just look at what they stole from _us_. And framing Xurik... that's just low."

"What do you mean, framing me?" Xurik asked, alert now.

"You mean you haven't noticed?" Seifer stopped and looked at Xurik. "People all over town have been reporting it to us. I don't know why Hayner's gang would do it... maybe they're still sore that you kicked their asses the other day, and maybe now they want to destroy the proof while getting revenge. Either way, all over town, people keep losing their - of..." He froze midsentence, covering his mouth.

"What?" Xurik said, narrowing his eyes. It was bizarre, but he understood exactly what Seifer had said, even if there had been no sound. "Are you talking about our -?" He grabbed his neck in shock; it was as if the words were being stolen from his throat.

"You mean we can't say -?" Rai said, frowning. "But I still get what you're saying, y'know?"

"-," Fuu said, opening her mouth tentatively, but no sound came out. She shook her head. "Stolen."

"You can't steal a word," Seifer said, scowling. He shook his head. "This is getting really weird. As Twilight Disciplinary Committee, we've got to get to the bottom of this."

"Well, we're not going to get anything done just sitting around here," Xurik said, standing. He had been apathetic before, but this impossible word theft had piqued his interests. "We should go question them."

"Hang on, here they come!" Vivi squeaked excitedly, pointing a floppy glove at one of the side streets. Indeed, running towards the sandlot were Hayner, Pence, and Olette. Seifer folded his arms as they approached; Hayner glared at them.

"Theives," Fuu said bluntly, and Rai nodded.

"That was low, y'know!"

Pence and Olette looked shocked, but Hayner scowled. "Oh yeah?"

Seifer rolled his eyes, walking closer. "Nice comeback there, blondie."

Hayner turned red. "What'd you say?"

"You can give us back the - now."

"Yeah!" Rai said, folding his arms. "You're the only ones who would take it, y'know?"

Seifer nodded. He smirked. "That was undeniable proof that we totally owned you lamers. So what'd you do? Burn it? Not that we need some - to prove that you're losers."

"Replay!" Fuu said, folding her arms.

Seifer laughed, grinning widely. He crouched down in a battle stance. "Now you're talking!"

Hayner looked surprised for a moment, then clenched his fists. "Fine!"

"Hayner, don't be stupid," Pence said with a sigh. The brown-haired boy usually didn't get involved in Hayner's squabbles. "There are five of them, and only one of you."

"You should listen to tubby," Seifer said, smirking. "I guess if you get on your knees and beg, maybe I'll let it slide."

"Knock it off, Seifer," Ollete said quietly.

"Screw you!" Hayner said hotly. He grabbed one of the blue clubs laying on the ground nearby - there were plenty available for practice matches for the Struggle Tournament - and charged at Seifer, crying out.

Xurik grabbed a club lying nearby to help out, but Seifer's reflexes were too quick; he sidestepped Hayner's attack, then swung his own blue club, striking Hayner in the back with a powerful blow. The blond boy yelped in pain, collapsing to the ground.

"Too easy," Seifer muttered. "The Tournament's going to be a cakewalk if you're our only competition."

Hayner said nothing, clenching his fist in the dust. Xurik looked down at him with pity, then sighed and offered his hand to help the boy up.

"Come on."

"Go stuff yourself," Hayner muttered, ignoring Xurik's hand and pushing himself to a sitting position. He brushed the dust off of his camo pants and smirked. "Don't count your chickens before they hatch, Seifer."

"You're one to talk about chickens, Chicken Wuss," Seifer grinned, kicking Hayner over with his foot. "Three of us made the semifinals - that's three more chances for us to win the Four Crystal Trophy, to your one."

"We've got it in the bag, y'know?"

Fuu pulled out her camera and snapped a picture of Seifer's foot resting on Hayner's back before the younger boy could get back on his feet. The snapshot began to slide out of the camera's slot - but before Fuu could inspect the new proof of their victory over Hayner's gang, there was a whirl of white and the camera was gone.

"What was that?" Seifer said, eyes wide - they barely got a glimpse of what looked like a person in a white jumpsuit vanishing around the corner.

"Theif!" Fuu said, clenching her fists.

Xurik wasted no time, running as fast as he could after the mysterious figure, his friends disappearing behind. If that thing was what was stealing all of the - of him, then catching it was the only way to clear his name. As he made his way to the Tram Common, he spotted it in the distance, twisting and writhing its way between buildings. He frowned; what on earth was it? He had never seen anyone move in such a bizarrely fluid way. That explained why there were no witnesses for any of the thefts, at any rate. It was so _fast_.

It vanished through a hole in the city wall, and Xurik grinned; he knew it would reach a dead end if it went through the forest and wound up at the Old Mansion. Ignoring the shouts of his friends fading behind him, he picked up the pace, determined not to lose sight of the figure.

The forest was filled with dark shadows, but Xurik managed to keep track of it. As he saw the golden light of the sunset in the distance, he knew that he had reached the edge of the forest; sure enough, he soon found himself facing a tall iron gate, barred by a thick lock.

The figure was facing him, and Xurik's eyes narrowed. He had been expecting to find a person, but... there was no way this thing was human. It was long and lithe, its spindly fingers bound with strips of metal. Blue lights ran up and down its sides; on its forehead was a strange silver emblem like an upside-down tattered heart. It had no facial features other than a long zipper stretching across where the mouth should be. Xurik grimaced in horror; was this some kind of monster? He had never seen anything like this in Twilight Town before.

Well, this was no time to get distracted. If this thing was really the thief, he had to stop it and get back Fuu's camera. He took a step forward, clenching his Struggle club tightly, preparing to strike.

_**We have come for you, my liege.**_

Xurik stopped and clenched his head in shock. The words had appeared in his mind, unbidden. As he stared at the creature, the zipper on its mouth slowly began to unzip, revealing a dark grinning mouth within.

The monster suddenly swooped forward, and Xurik blocked the attack; but when he tried to counter-attack, he found that the club simply grazed over the creature's surface, doing absolutely no damage. He dodged another attack and tried again, but it was no use; nothing seemed to phase the monster.

"It's not working," Xurik muttered desperately; what was he supposed to do?

Without warning, there was suddenly a brilliant flash of light; warmth spread from Xurik's heart to his hand, and flashing lights and numbers began to swirl around his club, like something out of a computer game. Before his eyes, the blue Struggle club vanished in the shining digital glow and was replaced by what looked like a gigantic metal key.

"What the hell is this thing?" It felt slightly warm in his hand. Without warning the weapon suddenly tugged his arm forward, pointing straight at the creature. Xurik frowned, then shook his head; he had no idea what was going on, but maybe this key would do a better job of hurting the monster. "Fine, you asked for it!"

He ran forward, and this time his blows made the creature recoil; he smirked triumphantly as he began to do some damage, blocking the monster's blows whenever it tried to attack. Using the key was strangely satisfying; it was much lighter than he might have thought, and felt like an extension of his arm. It felt so natural, as if he had already been using it for months. With a final cry, he jabbed the key forward, and the monster vanished in a shower of silver light. There was a flurry of movement, and dozens of photographs began to flutter to the ground; Fuu's camera landed with a thunk in the grass.

There was another swirl of numbers and light, and the key vanished from his hand, leaving nothing behind... not even the Struggle club. He flexed his fingers; what was that all about? So much today made no sense.

Xurik leaned down and picked up one of the square pictures; it had an image of him, Seifer, Fuu, Rai, and Vivi standing over a defeated Hayner. He picked up another one; it was of him near the Accessory Shop when it had opened a few weeks prior. As he looked through more and more of the pictures, he realized with a sinking feeling that the photos were all of him. Had the mysterious thief been seeking out pictures of Xurik intentionally?

_What the hell is going on?_

* * *

Back at the Sandlot, Seifer flipped through the photographs that Xurik had recovered. He frowned.

"That's so weird. What kind of thief just goes around stealing pics? Who was it, in the end?"

Xurik hesitated. He decided it would be too strange of a story... the strange white creature, the gigantic key. Who would believe him? Finally he gave a nervous chuckle. "No clue. The pictures were just lying on the ground when I reached the Old Mansion."

"Too weird, y'know?" Rai said, shaking his head. "I guess it wasn't Hayner's gang after all, y'know? They were with us the whole time."

"Xurik," Fuu said quietly, pointing out all of the pictures. Seifer nodded.

"Yeah... it's like I said before. No wonder everyone was getting suspicious of you, Xurik. You're the main topic in every photo, and-"

"You said 'photo'!" Vivi said excitedly, pointing at Seifer, who grinned.

"Hey, look at that. Guess the word 'photo' is back too."

"I wonder why..." Rai muttered, then grinned. "Maybe the thief was trying to steal the real Xurik, y'know?"

"Please. Who would mistake a picture for a human being?" Seifer smirked. "Maybe you've just got a secret admirer. A really creepy, stalkerish secret admirer."

"Give me a break," Xurik said, laughing, although his laughter was strained. The thief clearly wasn't a secret admirer; he didn't even know if it was human. Why, then, was it so fixated on him? What did it mean by 'my liege'?

The five friends hung out for a couple more hours, then began to depart as the train station clock tower began to chime out later and later hours. Xurik was among the last to leave; he waved goodbye to Rai and Fuu, then began to walk home, towards the eternally setting sun.

The glare from the sunset hit his eyes unpleasantly; he held up a hand, wincing. His head suddenly began to feel light, as his vision was obscured by darkness; his mind felt fuzzy as he felt himself slipping out of consciousness. His knees gave out as he collapsed to the ground.

"Where... am I?" a voice suddenly rang out within his mind, groggy yet clear. He didn't recognize it, but it felt bizarrely familiar.

_Who's that?_ he thought as he began to slip into unconsciousness.

"Me? Who are _you_?"

* * *

**011010110110010101111001**

**RESTORATION AT 12%.**

**011010110110010101111001**

* * *

A man in a red cloak was sitting at a computer terminal; glowing screens expanded around him, as endless data scrolled across each monitor. Red bandages covered a tanned face; all that was visible of his personal appearance was a single golden eye.

He heard footsteps approaching behind him, but he didn't turn to look. A boy with spiky brown hair leaned forward, watching the computer screens with interest; he was wearing a hooded black cloak, though the hood was down.

"Organization miscreants... they've found us," the man muttered.

The boy frowned, then shook his head. "I don't get it though... why would the Nobodies steal a bunch of photos? Aren't they trying to get back Xurik?"

"Both are nothing but data to them. The fools could never tell the difference," the man said scornfully. He sighed. "We are running out of time. Naminé must make haste."

"She's doing all she can, DiZ."

DiZ glanced back at the boy with a smirk. "Your youth and naivety betray you, Sora. You're too kind to that Nobody. You have to know that she has to heart with which to feel gratitude."

Sora rolled his eyes. They had had this conversation plenty of times before. Regardless of what DiZ said... Naminé _did_ have feelings. Sora saw it and felt it whenever he talked to her.

"Either way," he said finally, putting his arms behind his head, "She's making a ton of progress now. I can try to keep an eye on Xurik and make sure that Organization XIV doesn't interfere. After all, it's only a matter of time before Xurik remembers everything."

_And then I'll finally have my best friend back._


	2. The 2nd Day: Beach

He wasn't sure how much time passed... it could have been seconds, minutes, even days. All at once, however, he was aware that he was lying on hard ground, and that his ears were filled with the sound of rushing water. Groaning, he opened his eyes, then gasped.

He found himself on a small chunk of paved rock. There were waterfalls all around him...and the water was all rushing up. The platform he was on seemed to be floating in midair, and there were others just like it all around.

Scrambling to his feet, the boy frantically looked around.

"Kai-" The word was obscured by static. "Sora!"

**011010110110010101111001**

"Ex...excuse me," he called, turning red as he became aware of the awkwardness of the situation. "Could you, uh, tell me where I am?"

There was a woman with black dragon horns... she looked so familiar...

**011010110110010101111001**

"That is a very nice weapon you hold in your possession," the sorceress said suddenly, and he realized that he had been staring at her. "What do you call it?"

"It, er... it's a Keyblade," the boy said, recalling the name that had appeared inexplicably in his head. He suddenly noticed an odd gleam in the woman's eyes, and he gripped the Keyblade more tightly. "Who are you?"

"Of course, of course," the woman said, nodding. She smiled, arching her eyebrows in an arrogant sort of way, and he could tell that she had difficulty feigning politeness. "Where are my manners? My name is Maleficent... yourself?"

"I'm Riku."

**011010110110010101111001**

"World? You mean, you already know about other worlds?"

"Of course. One such as myself who possesses a great store of knowledge knows quite a lot about other worlds. I have traveled between them quite frequently myself."

"So, listen, have you seen a boy and a girl around anywhere? Both of them are about fourteen, the boy has spiky brown hair and the girl has short red hair..."

"I'm afraid you're the only child I've seen in quite some time. I know everything that happens in my castle as well, so it is quite unlikely that they are anywhere in this world."

The boy's shoulders fell. "You mean... they're gone...?"

Maleficent gave a scornful laugh. "Gone? I never said anything about that. Most likely they have simply been scattered to distant worlds."

**011010110110010101111001**

"That little squirt is the Keyblade Master? Who'd have thought it?"

"The child's strength is not his own. Such is the power of the Keyblade."

**011010110110010101111001**

"Why, the weapon you hold in your hands is proof enough!" Maleficent said, nodding at the Keyblade. "The Keyblade is a legendary weapon, and chooses its wielder based on the strength of his or her heart. As the Keyblade Master, your heart is surely one of the strongest of all."

"Keyblade...Master?" he asked, astonished. Is that why the Keyblade chose him? Because his heart was so strong?

"But if you do not wish to side with myself and the Heartless," the woman continued with a sigh, "I'm sure you could find some other way to find your friends..."

"Wait," the silver-haired boy said suddenly. He felt an odd sensation within his chest. "I...I'll help you. But just for Sora and Kai-"

**011010110110010101111001**

The boy was lying in bed, holding the Keyblade over his head. He sighed. Was his heart really that strong? He supposed so... he had caused the door to his world to open simply by wishing it. Is that what Maleficent meant? Was he really the key?

**011010110110010101111001**

_**But don't be afraid. You hold the mightiest weapon of all.**_

Darkness rose up around his feet, engulfing him. He tried to struggle away, but was unable to. Suddenly everything was dark.

_**So don't forget: You are the one who will open the door.**_

* * *

_**The 2nd Day**_

Xurik snapped awake in shock; his heart was racing. He looked around the room in confusion, then looked down at his hand. The dreams were so vivid... but now it was difficult to pretend that they were only dreams. The weapon that had appeared yesterday... it was the same one that the silver-haired boy was holding.

He flexed his hand slowly, frowning. "A... keyblade?" What kind of a ridiculous weapon was that? And yet... it had been the only thing to work against the monster the day before...

Where had it come from?

* * *

Xurik walked through the streets slowly, headed towards the Sandlot. The dreams still weighed heavily on his mind. How could he dream about the same people every night? Were they real people? The silver-haired boy talked about going to other worlds... but that was impossible. There weren't other worlds... were there?

Unless... _could_ there be other worlds? And if so, how would one get there?

Maybe... you simply needed the right key.

"Keyblade," Xurik muttered again, savoring the word. It sounded silly, and yet... strangely alluring, almost familiar. He picked up a stick from the ground and gave it a few tentative swings, but nothing happened - no whirl of light and numbers transformed the brittle wood into metal. Xurik smirked suddenly; what was he doing? He had to be going insane, trying to turn a twig into some dream key. Sighing, he tossed the stick over his shoulder, then continued on his way to meet his friends.

"Ow!"

Xurik froze in his steps, turning around. A figure wearing a black hooded robe was rubbing his head.

"Watch it, will ya?" the unseen person muttered - he sounded like a boy. The mysterious individual walked away without another word, leaving Xurik feeling embarassed and awkward.

"Uh, s...sorry..." he stammered at last, but the figure was already gone. Who in the world was that? The town was pretty large, but someone that suspicious would have been noticed by now. Who walked around in the middle of the day hiding their face all the time? Aside from Vivi, anyway.

Well, he was gone now, at any rate. His friends were bound to be getting impatient...

* * *

"About time," Seifer said, smirking as Xurik arrived. Vivi waddled over to him and handed him a light-blue bar of sea-salt ice cream.

"Thanks," Xurik said. He sat down on the bench while the five of them ate in silence.

"Man, today is dead, y'know?" Rai said finally. "Why do we feel so down?"

"Photo thief," Fuu said, shrugging.

"Nah, it's not that," Seifer said, frowning in thought. "Maybe... we just need to shake things up. Summer's ending in just a few days, and we're just sitting around doing nothing!"

"Well, what is there to do?" Xurik asked, looking around. "The Struggle tournament isn't for a couple of days, and we've pretty much done everything there is to do in town..."

Seifer rolled his eyes, standing up. "Come on Xurik, think. You're the one who hasn't been able to shut up about it all summer... it was your idea in the first place."

"Oh!" Xurik said suddenly. "You mean-"

"Yup! We're going to the beach!" Seifer said proudly.

"Oh boy!" Vivi shouted, and Rai grinned.

"That sounds great, y'know! Oh, but... we're all kind of..."

"Broke," Fuu said flatly.

Seifer waved a hand through the air dismissively. "Please. You know the Twilight Disciplinary Committee gets a little bit of funding from the town."

Xurik frowned. "But Seifer... we're only supposed to use that munny for official business, not our own personal-"

"What the mayor doesn't know won't hurt him," Seifer said, winking. "Do you want to go to the beach or not?"

Xurik sighed. While he didn't feel comfortable with embezzling the town's munny... it _was_ true that Seifer usually got away with a lot worse. And it wasn't as if a trip to the beach was _that_ expensive...

"Fine," he said reluctantly, and Rai and Vivi cheered.

"Awesome! We're going to the beach, y'know!"

"Can we get pretzels?" Vivi squeaked excitedly.

"Of course," Seifer said, smirking.

"Watermelon?" Fuu asked. Seifer began to nod, but Xurik shook his head.

"Come on, you know those are way too expensive. If we're going to be breaking the law, we might as well keep it cheap."

"Okay, _Mom_," Seifer said, punching Xurik on the shoulder with a little more force than necessary. "Just pretzels then. Those are like 300 munny apiece, and then tickets are 900 apiece... how much is that?"

Fuu thought for a moment, then nodded. "6000 munny."

"Awesome. Let's head to the station!" Seifer turned to Xurik. "Go grab what we need from our stash. Meet you there!"

Seifer, Rai, Fuu, and Vivi all bounded off towards the Train Station. Xurik headed to one of the corners of the Sandlot; reaching underneath one of the benches, he felt around until his fingers closed on the munny pouch taped to the underside of the bench.

"Got it," he muttered, pulling it out. The velvet pouch, given to them by the mayor, was embroidered with the town seal in golden thread, showing an image of the Train Station Clock Tower. He poured the contents of the pouch into his hand and began to count out the orbs; there was at least 20,000 munny within. More than enough.

The Station Clock Tower chimed distantly; the mid-day train would be leaving soon. Xurik pocketed the munny pouch and set off running.

* * *

"Come on, Xurik!" Seifer called out as Xurik emerged into the Station Plaza.

"The train's leaving soon, y'know!"

"Got the money?" Seifer called, and Xurik waved the munny pouch in the air.

"Right here."

"Good." Seifer turned and began to lead the others into the station.

Xurik began to follow them, pouch in hand, but something caught his ankle; he toppled to the red bricked ground, banging his knees and shoulder painfully.

"Ow!" he hissed. He glanced upward, and realized with shock that the figure in the black cloak was standing over him. "Who-"

Before Xurik could finish, the boy reached out a gloved hand to help him up. Xurik hesitantly took it. Once he was helped to his feet, the figure tugged him forward suddenly, pulling him close.

"Can you feel Riku?" he whispered in his ear. Xurik's eyes narrowed.

"Wh...what?"

"Xurik! Stop goofing around!" Seifer called out in irritation.

"One second, I-" Xurik began, but when he turned back around the boy was gone. The plaza wasn't that big; how could he have vanished so suddenly?

"Now!"

Xurik sighed, then ran inside the train station after the rest of his friends. Fuu was standing at the ticket window.

"Five," she said, holding out her hand.

"Got the munny, Xurik?" Seifer said, holding out his hand.

Xurik nodded, then reached into his pocket - then froze. He patted himself over, but felt nothing but the denim in his jeans.

"No!"

"What's up, y'know? Don't you have the munny?"

Xurik pushed open the glass doors of the station, scanning the empty plaza. "I did - you saw me with it a second ago! But I guess that guy took it when he helped me up!"

"Guy?" Fuu said questioningly.

Xurik nodded, clenching his fist. "Yeah, I don't know where he went though, but maybe we can catch up to him-"

"Who are you talking about?" Vivi said quietly.

"You know, the guy who-" Xurik began, but stopped when he realized that all four of them were staring at him as if he was insane.

"Xurik, there was no one there," Seifer said, frowning. "You tripped, you fell down, then you came in here. I saw you."

Behind them, a train whistle sounded as the train to the beach slowly pulled away from the station. The others stared after it forelorn.

"There... wasn't?" Xurik stared down at his hands. "Really? Then why..."

"Awesome," Seifer muttered, staring after the train. He sighed. "Well, so much for the beach... and our munny."

Xurik was silent, his stomach sinking. He felt terrible; not only could they no longer go to the beach, but he had lost all of the Twilight Disciplinary Committee's funds. What would happen if the mayor asked them where their munny had gone? They could get in a lot of trouble for losing it.

But aside from that, he'd had a conversation with a person who apparently wasn't there - what did that mean? Was he going insane?

* * *

Later, the five friends were sitting on the clock tower ledge. The orange sun hovered close to the horizon, casting a warm light over them as it always did; but Xurik was unable to enjoy it. His bar of sea-salt ice cream began to gather condensation, then slowly started to drip down onto the plaza far below.

"Your ice-cream's melting," Vivi said gently, pointing to Xurik's bar.

Xurik hesitated, then nodded; he drew it to his mouth and licked up the salty-sweet melting cream. Finally he sighed, glancing sheepishly at the rest of them. "Guys... I'm sorry."

Seifer rolled his eyes, then smirked. "It's fine."

"That was really weird, though, y'know?"

"Strange," Fuu said, nodding.

"Yeah," Xurik said quietly, feeling slightly relieved. At least his friends didn't think he was lying... not that that helped them any. But who was the cloaked boy? And what had he meant?

"Can you feel Riku?" he whispered quietly, repeating the boy's words. Riku... that was the name of the silver-haired boy, wasn't it? Did that mean they weren't just dreams?

_Who is Riku?_

* * *

**011010110110010101111001**

**RESTORATION AT 28%.**

**011010110110010101111001**

"Naminé... hurry." Diz sighed, tapping at the keyboard.

Sora was leaning on the metal wall behind him, his hood lowered. He tossed the munny pouch with the picture of the Clock Tower in the air, catching it every time.

"I feel really bad, DiZ. Why wouldn't we just let him go to the beach?"

"We'd be giving the enemy another entry point," DiZ said simply. Sora sighed.

"I guess. What should we do with their munny?"

The man chuckled dryly. "We can always buy some sea-salt ice cream."

"That's not funny. It's their money."

"Please, spare me your misplaced sympathy," DiZ said, rolling his eyes. "They're even less real than Xurik is. Objects from that town must be kept out of the real world. You can delete that."

Sora frowned; then silently slipped the pouch into the pocket of his cloak.

* * *

(( Hope you guys are liking it so far! By all means, let me know if you have any comments, compliments, or criticisms! As always, any R&R is extremely appreciated. ))


	3. The 3rd Day: Dream

"I'm Ursula, sweetie," the octopus-woman said, holding out a tentacle for him to shake. "Charmed, I'm sure."

"Oogie Boogie of Halloweentown," said the creature he had first encountered.

"Hades, lord of the Underworld."

"Captain Hook..."

"And Jafar, soon to be Sultan of Agrabah."

"I'm Riku... Keyblade Master," Riku said. "It's, uh, nice to meet all of you. I think."

**011010110110010101111001**

"Hold it right there!" he shouted, and before he could stop himself he jumped down from the tree in front of the entire court. Everyone there looked at him in shock.

"Who are you? How dare you interfere with my court?" the queen said furiously.

"Get away from the girl!" Riku said, summoning his Keyblade in a flash of light. "She's innocent."

"Ha! You expect me to believe you?" the queen said haughtily. "Why, you've probably been plotting with her to steal my heart! If Alice isn't the culprit, then who is?"

**011010110110010101111001**

"There you are," Riku said with a grin, a strange key-like weapon over his shoulder. "What's going on?"

"Riku!" Sora shouted, overjoyed. He leapt forward, grabbing Riku's face, trying to make funny faces.

"Hey, hey, cut it out!"

**011010110110010101111001**

"I've been receiving a little help," Riku said quietly. "That's how I found you, after all."

"Well, who is it?"

"That would be me," a voice said suddenly, and in a flash of green and black flames Maleficent had appeared before them. Sora jumped back, shocked.

"Sora, this is Maleficent," Riku said calmly. "She's on our side, don't worry."

"As Riku said, I can help you find your friend. I have enormous powers at my disposal for the task."

"So, what do you say, Sora?" Riku asked. He gave a faint smile. "Want to come with us? We can find Kai-"

**011010110110010101111001**

Sora dragged Riku down the stone corridors of the Cave of Wonders, then turned to him angrily. "You lied to me! Why?"

"Sora, I... I did it to save Kai-," Riku said, turning red. "Maleficent made a deal with me, saying she'd help me find K-" Static, always static... "...if I helped Jafar kidnap Jasmine. I had to lie to you or you wouldn't go along with it..."

"Yeah, because it's wrong!"

**011010110110010101111001**

"But Sora, I thought you liked games," he said, smiling darkly. "Don't you want to play too?"

"It's the Keyblade Master!" the duck said in excitement, jumping up and down.

"Riku! Wh...what are you doing here?" Sora asked in shock.

"Just playing with Pinocchio."

"You know what I mean!" Sora said in frustration. "What about Kai-? Did you find her?"

Riku grinned. "Maybe. Catch us and maybe I'll tell you what I know."

**011010110110010101111001**

"The Princesses of Heart? So that's what you needed Alice and Jasmine for?"

"Yes... although I'll admit that my ultimate goal was perhaps a bit different than yours." Maleficent grinned, placing a clawed hand on Riku's head. "Now, I'll grant you a marvelous gift...the power to control the Heartless."

Riku looked down at himself as he began to glow with a dark light. He could feel an incredible amount of power flowing from Maleficent's hand into his body. Was this what even greater powers of darkness felt like? It was exhilarating.

"Soon, Kairi. Soon."

* * *

The utter blackness of sleep. In the distance - who was that? A girl? She looked... familiar. Blonde, with a white dress...

_Who are you?_

The girl turned to face him, smiling.

* * *

_**The 3rd Day**_

Xurik blinked awake, the distant chiming of the train station clock tower stirring him from his slumber. He clutched his head wearily; he felt exhausted, as if he had barely slept at all. The dreams were getting more bizarre... so many strange faces and worlds flashing by, it was difficult to accept that any of it was even possible. And yet he had the same dreams nightly. Who was Riku, or his friends? What was the Keyblade? And how did it relate to anything that was going on?

Movement stirred in the corner of his eye. He turned quickly, but saw no one. His bedroom was empty as always.

"That's... weird," he muttered. For a moment he thought he had seen a girl.

Well, hallucinations aside... the day wasn't getting any younger. Yawning, he stretched and got out of bed.

* * *

"About time you woke up," Seifer said as he approached the Sandlot. Fuu, Rai, and Vivi were already there. "We've got a busy day ahead of us."

"Huh? What for?"

"We know you didn't mean to lose the munny, y'know?" Rai said with a slight smile - Xurik could tell with gratitude that he was being sincere. "But the mayor's gonna be pissed if he finds out we lost it, y'know? So we're gonna get it back!"

"Part-time," Fuu said, nodding. Xurik winced.

"You guys... I'm really sorry. I know I messed up, but I don't want you guys to have to get jobs because of me," he said apologetically. "I'll get one myself, and it might take a little longer, but you shouldn't have to-"

"Jeez, would you lighten up?" Seifer said, rolling his eyes and pacing around. "Spare us your self-sacrificial theatrics. Anyway, we don't _have_ that much time; summer's over in 4 days, and the seaside festival is on the last day. We need to get some munny pronto, or we're going to be the only sad-sacks in town not having any fun."

"Well... okay," Xurik said, smiling reluctantly. "Thanks."

"Let's go, you guys!" Vivi said excitedly.

"There are jobs posted on Market Street and in the Tram Common, I think," Seifer said, thinking. "There are usually around three jobs posted per board, so... if we split up those two places between the five of us, maybe we can dominate the market."

"Sounds good to me," Xurik said with a grin, feeling a bit more enthusiastic about the task at hand now that he knew that his friends weren't mad. "I guess... I'll take Market Street."

"Me too, y'know!"

"Same."

"Then Vivi and I will work on the Tram Common," Seifer said. "Split up, guys. We'll meet up later and see what we've come up with."

* * *

Rai trotted up the hilly streets cheerfully, Fuu close behind - Xurik was lagging behind them. He wasn't normally this moody all the time, but recent events caused him to lapse into deep thought often. The dreams, the white monster, the Keyblade, the hooded boy...

"I wonder what needs doin', y'know?"

"Grandstander," Fuu said thoughtfully.

"Yeah, that girl's always looking for people to hit that ball, y'know? I could watch that all day. I think someone was also looking for someone to move some supplies into his garage... I could be good at that, y'know?"

"Cakewalk," Fuu said, allowing a small smile.

"Or maybe the post office is still-"

Xurik bumped into the muscular boy unexpectedly; he rubbed his head.

"Ow. Rai, why are you-" he began, then stopped. Eyes wide, he realized that both Rai and Fuu were frozen mid-stride, as if they were a video that someone had paused. Circling around them, he could see that they weren't even blinking. Now that he thought about it, everything was silent - the birds had even stopped chirping. Chills ran down his spine; what was going on? It was like time had frozen for everyone but him.

He began to turn around, but nearly jumped out of his skin when he realized that a blonde girl was standing directly before him. She was smiling - and was the only thing moving.

"Hello, Xurik," she said before he could begin.

He narrowed his eyes. "Um... hello. Who are you? And why are you the only one who-"

The girl held up a finger to quiet him; caught off guard, Xurik complied without thinking about it.

"I wanted to see you again."

"Again?" Xurik said in surprise. "Wait. Have we... met?" Now that he thought about it, she _did_ seem familiar...

"Hmm. Have we?" the girl said, her smile widening as if something was funny. She waved at him, then without warning, suddenly began to walk away.

"Huh? Hey! Wait!" he called out, beginning to run after her before she disappeared around the corner.

"-hiring people to deliver letters, y'know? That could be kind of cool!" Rai turned to Xurik, who was staring in the direction that she had vanished. "Xurik, what do you think? You better pick a job before I do 'em all first, y'know!"

"Uh, did you see..." Xurik said hesitantly, then shook his head. "Um, I... I think I left something back at the Sandlot. I'll catch up with you guys in a minute, okay?"

"Fine," Fuu said, rolling her eyes.

"Don't keep us waiting, y'know?"

* * *

Xurik ran as fast as his legs could carry him. He was positive that the blond girl had headed towards the Sandlot at least, but where might she have gone after that? She had just walked away... she couldn't have gotten far.

He arrived in the wide dusty clearing, and at the far side of it saw a girl in white vanishing around the corner. That had to be her. He picked up the pace, hoping to catch her before she got too far.

As he reached the center of the Sandlot, a huge black vortex suddenly appeared in mid-air, like some kind of bizarre dark portal. Eyes wide, Xurik skidded to a stop, not wanting to run into whatever it was.

White monsters suddenly began to fly out of it, twisting through the air, exactly like the photo thief from the other day. He cried out in horror as they headed directly for him; their lithe, elastic limbs began to wrap around him, restraining his movement. Heart pounding, he realized in terror that they were pulling him in the direction of the dark portal.

"Let me go!" he shouted, voice straining from fright. He punched at them as much as he could, but his fists did no damage. His flailing around, however, managed to weaken their grip, and with a tremendous lunge he managed to stumble forward, free from their grasp. The moment he was free he began to run as fast as he could; glancing over his shoulder, he could see that the creatures were close behind.

Not really sure where to go, he ran back in the direction that he had come from, heading up the back alley in hopes of catching up with Rai and Fuu so that they could help him. As he was halfway up the sloping road, however, he collided headfirst into Hayner, Pence, and Olette, who he hadn't seen because he had been looking over his shoulder.

Olette winced, getting to her feet. "Xurik? What are you-"

"Hey! Watch where you're going!" Hayner said, clutching his shoulder in annoyance.

"Sorry, sorry, I was-"

"Whoah! What are those?" Pence said, pointing in shock. The white creatures were twisting their way through the air towards them.

"I dunno, but I don't like the way this looks," Hayner said, gritting his teeth and holding up his fists. "Find a weapon or something!"

Xurik glanced around the back alleyway, then finally spotted a blue Struggle club leaning against the wall, presumably from when Hayner had been practicing. He ran to grab it, a white monster close behind him, and the second he seized the hilt he whipped around and started beating at the creature. As before, however, his blows simply glided off ineffectively. The creature contorted its body, then lashed out, sending him sprawling to the ground. He winced as he collided with the red bricks, the Struggle club clattering across the ground.

He glanced at the others, then realized with horror that the three friends were frozen in time, the three monsters circling them predatorily. The only things moving were him and the creatures.

"Dammit," he muttered, clenching with teeth. The three monsters suddenly turned and began to head towards him, their bodies contorting and bending across the ground and through the air. He began to scrabble backwards, desperate to get away from the invincible creatures.

"Xurik!" a voice called suddenly. Xurik glanced around frantically, then spotted the blonde girl from before standing at the end of the alleyway. "Use the Keyblade!"

Xurik hesitated, looking down at his hands. The Keyblade? The girl knew about that? But how was he supposed to-

It was no good. Before he had time to react, one of the monsters dove forward, lashing its whiplike limbs at him. He held up his hands to block the attack, and was suddenly immersed in a brilliant light.

* * *

Xurik flinched, awaiting the blow, but realized after a moment that it hadn't come. He lowered his hands hesitantly, opening his eyes slowly.

"Wh...what?" he stammered when he saw where he was. "Where... am I?" Instead of the warm, golden glow of twilight, he found himself in a cool darkness; far above him, light filtered through the depths of... what? It looked as if he was at the bottom of an ocean or something, but there was no water. Meanwhile he was standing on a huge, round platform made of stained glass; a faint light shone from within it. He studied the platform more carefully, then gasped. Its metal-and-glass designs depicted the silver-haired boy, Riku, holding the Keyblade and reclining on an odd-looking palm tree with star-shaped fruit. The faces of his two friends, Sora and Kairi, were encased in ornate circles. Around the border ran a repeating pattern, one of an elaborate black heart with a red outline. What was going on?

There were suddenly three flashes of light - a sword, shield, and staff appeared, hovering in midair. He waited for a moment, but nothing else happened.

_Am I... supposed to choose?_ He glanced around, and realized with a shiver that the three white monsters were floating in midair around the platform, watching him silently. Whatever he was supposed to be doing, he didn't feel comfortable with those things around. He might as well have a weapon.

He glanced at the three relics, then began to walk forward; his footsteps echoed on the glass, reverberating in the silence. He tentatively wrapped his hand around the hilt of the sword. Its silver blade glinted in the gloam - then suddenly vanished in a burst of light. When the light cleared, his heart leapt as he realized that the sword had been replaced with the Keyblade. Again. So the other day hadn't just been a dream... unless he was dreaming now. That was still a big possibility, if not a probability. How could any of this be real?

Movement out of the corner of his eye stirred him. He realized with grim surprise that the white monsters were suddenly moving forward, walking on thin air until they reached the stained-glass platform. He held the Keyblade over his head; at least now he had a chance of fighting back.

The creatures lashed out at him in unison, but he dropped to the floor, sliding out of the way. The moment he was behind them, he slashed at them with the Keyblade. The monsters tumbled out of the way, their rubbery limbs tangling together, but soon they managed to right themselves and flew at him together. He tried to strike at them, but one of the creatures wrapped its legs around the shaft of the Keyblade, restricting his movement. He struggled with it; it was surprisingly strong. After swinging the weapon around with all the force he could, he finally managed to sling the white monster loose. As soon as his Keyblade was free, however, one of the creatures wrapped itself around his legs, while a second began to tug at his arm.

_This is impossible_, he thought desperately, bashing away the third monster with his only free arm. The third monster recovered, snaked across the stained glass, then suddenly propelled itself at him, slamming into his chest; with the first creature wrapped around his legs, he stumbled over backwards, landing painfully on the hard glass. The three white monsters worked together to restrain his limbs, lashing out at his prone body now that he was unable to defend himself.

"Let me go!" he shouted desperately, screwing up his face in concentration as he struggled violently. He gathered together all of his concentration and strength, hoping to shake them off, if he could just get loose-

He felt like his chest was bursting; an icy sensation rushed out of his limbs, and suddenly realized that he was flailing on the ground alone, all resistance gone. His eyes snapped open; the monsters were suddenly and inexplicably gone.

_What just happened?_ he asked himself silently, sitting up and looking around at the empty round platform. He glanced down at his hands and realized that they were surrounded by an odd purple aura. Had that burst of energy come out of him? He tried concentrating again, and found that the inky dark substance grew thicker around his hands as he focused. It seemed to radiate power... what was it? It seemed to have destroyed the monsters...

His mind suddenly rushed to his dreams from the night before - this seemed all too familiar. The silver-haired boy had been radiating in a similar way. What had that power been? Darkness?

The Keyblade, random bursts of darkness... how did he keep inexplicably getting new powers?

There was a sudden flash of light, and an ornate doorway appeared in the middle of the platform. Xurik stared at it; the doorway was freestanding, and there was nothing behind it as far as he could tell. But considering how many other impossible things were happening lately... it seemed almost certain that this doorway would magically lead somewhere else, physics be damned. He hesitantly grasped the warm handle of the doorway.

_**Be careful. Beyond that door lies a completely different world. But don't be afraid.**_

The words flowed into his mind unbidden. Xurik frowned; having voices in his head seemed like a decent reason to be afraid, regardless of what the voices said, but at this point he wasn't even going to bother using basic logic. After all, what could he do? He couldn't stay rotting away here forever. The only thing to do was to move forward.

Taking a deep breath, he pulled on the handles of the double-doorway; the heavy doors resisted at first, but soon began to slide open easily. As they opened, a brilliant light from within shone through the opening, growing and brightening as the door swung open, until finally the doorway was open and the light began to engulf him. It was so warm... the complete opposite feeling of the coolness of the dark aura he had felt before.

When the light cleared, he found himself standing on another platform, almost identical to the one before, although the light was dimmer. He looked around hesitantly; what was the point of going through that door if it barely did anything?

The hair suddenly stood up on the back of his neck as dread washed over him. Where had those chills come from? He slowly turned around, afraid of what he might find, then gasped.

An enormous silver creature towered overhead, the emblem of the white monsters on its forehead; it took a step forward, and as its foot came down on the platform, tremors shook the glass. Xurik backed away, terror seizing his chest as he gripped the Keyblade tightly. The monster was gigantic, as tall as a building, and had a silver zipper running down its chest... but clothed or not, there was no way this thing was human. A blue scarf wrapped around its neck, its frayed ends waving in the air like tentacles; its body was sharp and angular, with huge pointed shoulders and jagged joints.

Xurik's heart skipped a beat as the beast raised its hand, preparing to strike. He turned and ran, but skidded to a stop as he teetered dangerously close to the edge of the stained-glass platform. Endless darkness expanded far below him.

He turned and faced the creature, looking up at it in fear. What was he supposed to do? He couldn't run, there was nowhere to go...

All he could do was fight back.

Gripping his Keyblade resolutely, he began to charge forward, but was thrown backwards by a burst of energy from the huge monster. A flash of silver light engulfed him before he could react, blinding him.

When his eyesight cleared, he glanced around, and realized with horror that he was suspended several meters in the air, his limbs held in place with crackling orbs of electric energy. He tried to struggle away, but it was no use; he was stretched prone, totally open to any kind of attack thrown at him.

The monster rose from the platform far below, then stopped before him, its enormous featureless head staring at him closely. Xurik struggled desperately, then realized that the Keyblade was still in his right hand; he began to focus all of his power on it, drawing strength from its warmth. As the huge creature reared back its clawed hand to strike, Xurik tensed all of his muscles in preparation. The huge limb suddenly shot forward and Xurik seized his chance. He swung his body to the side, avoiding the attack, then struck out with his Keyblade with all the strength he could muster. The weapon smashed into the creature's skull, sending it reeling backwards through the air.

It stopped, standing above the dark void a long distance off. Xurik breathed a slight sigh of relief at the new distance between them; but gasped as the monster's rubbery arms suddenly shot out an impossibly far distance, seizing him roughly and tossing him into the air. He flailed through empty space as wind raced through his ears; in spite of his spinning freefall, he could see the creature waiting for him on the ground, prepared to strike. Xurik flailed his arms desperately, then felt the Keyblade collide with the creature's skill again; he flipped over, landing on his feet as the monster slid limply over the edge of the platform.

Xurik held his Keyblade at the ready, prepared to retaliate if the monster should return for a counter-attack. After a moment, however, nothing had happened; everything was silent. He cautiously made his way to the edge of the glass platform, peering over the edge. Nothing but darkness... had he actually defeated it that easily?

Without warning, the entire platform began to shake. Xurik cried out in shock as he stumbled backwards, then realized that the stained-glass pillar was tilting in the opposite direction. He scrabbled at the smooth glass floor, desperate to gain some kind of hold before he went careening off into the void, then managed to jam his Keyblade into the edge of the platform at the last moment. He dangled there helplessly, then looked down and gasped. The huge silver monster was clinging to the side of the platform, which must have been what set it off-balance, and between outstretched arms was a gigantic vortex of energy. It looked like it was forming some kind of huge attack - one that would almost certainly be the end of him.

The colossal beast suddenly pushed away from the colored-glass column, sending it toppling and reeling through the void. The Keyblade suddenly gave way; both Xurik and the collosal beast flew through nothingness, and all Xurik could see as he fell was the ever-increasing glow of the orb of energy that the monster would use to kill him. He squeezed his eyes shut, preparing for the pain as wind rushed past his ears.

_Seifer... Rai... Fuu... Vivi... I'm sorry._

_**Come on, Riku! Don't tell me you're giving up already!**_

Xurik's emerald eyes snapped open in shock. The voice had sounded so real, as if someone was standing right beside him - was it just him remembering his dreams of the silver-haired boy? So much was going on lately... but even if this _was_ just a dream, he wanted to see it through to the end. He clenched the Keyblade tightly. He wouldn't die today.

Calling forth as much power as possible, he covered the Keyblade in darkness, then hurled it at the orb of energy just as the monster sent it flying towards him.

The explosion was ear-shattering; the sheer force of it sent Xurik flying backwards, careening through the air as his heart leapt to his throat. He landed painfully on something hard and cool, and felt an enormous tremor a moment later; getting shakily to his feet, he saw that he and the huge monster had somehow landed on the stained-glass platform once more. Every bone in his body ached from the impact, but there was no time to lose - caught directly in the explosion, the creature must have gotten stunned. Xurik glanced around and seized his Keyblade from where it had jammed into the platform, then charged forward. He hacked away at the creature's skull, and seemed to be doing a good bit of damage, but slowly the beast began to stir as it returned to conciousness.

_I've got to finish this now!_ he thought desperately. He already felt like he would have bruises for weeks - any more attacks like that would surely finish him off. He began to focus on his physical pain and saw that darkness slowly began to spread across his body; he concentrated on his Keyblade as hard as he could, and the weapon became wrapped in an inky-black haze. He pointed it at the creature as it began to rise to its feet; it was now or never.

A beam of purple energy exploded from the tip of his Keyblade, shooting straight through the monster's chest. It reached up a clawed hand to stop him, but froze; even without any kind of face to speak of, Xurik could practically see the life leave it. He grinned triumphantly - but his smirk vanished the moment he realized that the creature was toppling towards him. He scrabbled backwards as quickly as he could, but he wasn't fast enough; with a mighty crash, the gigantic monster collapsed on top of him, dissolving into a thick dark haze as it struck the stained glass. Xurik flailed desperately as the black fog swarmed around him, covering him; it filled his lungs, strangling him, blinding him to everything. As the shadows began to drag him down, he felt like he was sinking into a cold, dark void. He reached out hoping to grab onto some kind of handhold, but found nothing but a thick darkness. Slowly he felt his mind slipping away, succumbing to oblivion; memories of his friends, home, and even his name began to get hazy as he lost himself.

A hand suddenly grabbed his; it was warm and soft in his grasp. Simply touching it filled his chest with warmth, and the fog suddenly left his mind; memories of Seifer, Rai, Fuu, and Vivi came rushing back. That's right. He was Xurik.

* * *

He opened his eyes slowly, and realized with surprise that he was standing in a strange white room; it didn't even seem like a room at all, just a formless white void expanding forever. Broken white shapes floated about for seemingly no reason whatsoever. Xurik stared around for a moment, then realized that he wasn't alone - the blond girl was sitting on a white ledge watching him silently.

Was she the one who saved him from the darkness? He opened his mouth to ask, but she pressed a finger to her lips with a smile.

"My name is Naminé."

"Naminé," Xurik repeated quietly. He looked around; what was he doing here? Was this all still just a dream?

"Xurik... do you remember your true name?" the girl asked. Xurik narrowed his eyes; what did she mean? His true name was Xurik, wasn't it? Unless... it wasn't. Why else would she say something like that?

A dark portal suddenly opened up behind the girl; a figure in a black hooded cloak stepped out of it.

"Naminé, you can't tell him any more."

"But if no one tells him, Xurik will-"

"It's better if he doesn't know. It would hurt too much if he knew the truth," the boy said quietly, with what sounded like sadness. Xurik clenched his fists.

"Hey! You're the guy that stole our munny!"

The boy hesitated, turning to him.

"Well, I-"

Xurik didn't wait for a response; crying out angrily, he summoned the Keyblade in a flash of light and charged at the hooded boy.

There was a suddenly burst of brightness, and Xurik flew backwards; he slid across the floor painfully, his head swimming. What the hell was that? His body was tingling. Did the boy just shoot light at him?

"Calm down, Xurik." The boy lowered his hood, revealing a boyish face and a mess of spiky brown hair. He was smirking slightly. "Jeez. No matter who you are, you always have such a bad temper."

"Hey," Xurik said suddenly, eyes widening. "You're... that boy! Sora...?"

Shock flitted across Sora's face. "Wh...what? You mean you..."

"You're his best friend... right? Riku?"

"Y...yeah," Sora said quietly, glancing at Naminé, who nodded. "I am."

"So my dreams aren't just dreams..." Xurik mumbled quietly. "Unless... this is just a dream too..."

"Hmm... who knows?" Sora said thoughtfully. He dug into his pocket, then pulled out a velvet pouch. "Either way - I think this belongs to you. Catch."

The boy tossed it at him, and Xurik caught it; inspecting it more closely, he realized it was the munny pouch with the Twilight Town seal on it.

"Why are you giving this back to me?" Xurik said suspiciously, testing its weight. It felt as if nothing had been taken out.

"Because it's yours, like I said." Sora smirked. "Think of it as a warning not to steal from the town in the future. Otherwise I won't give it back next time."

"Thanks, I guess." Xurik said slowly, slipping the pouch into his pocket.

"No problem. And now... time for you to wake up."

"What do you-" Xurik began, but before he could react a dark portal opened beneath his feet, and everything went dark.

* * *

"Xurik... Xurik!"

"Are you okay, man?"

Xurik winced, then opened his eyes; he was laying on his back on the hard brick ground, the faces of Olette and Pence looming over him.

"Y...yeah," he said, sitting up uneasily. "What happened?"

"Well, those weird things in the white jumpsuits were attacking, and then they suddenly vanished, and you passed out. Just for a second though."

"I was only out for a second?" Xurik muttered quietly. The battle with the monsters, meeting Naminé and Sora... surely that had taken at least an hour. Maybe it _had_ just been a dream.

Pence extended his hand, and Xurik took it, getting shakily to his feet. Hayner was leaning against a wall, arms folded.

"That was too weird," he muttered quietly. "First the photos, now this... what's going on in this town lately?"

"I dunno," Xurik said quietly, although he had long been wondering the same thing himself. Were the bizarre events going on his fault? Everything always seemed to tie back to Xurik... Xurik and his dreams of Riku.

He looked down at his hand; the Keyblade was no longer there, of course. Why did the weapon only appear when no one was around to see it? Was he having some kind of elaborate hallucination? He glanced downward and realized that his pocket was bulging; he reached inside and pulled out the velvet munny pouch. His eyes widened in surprise. Of course... Sora had given it back to him. Then did that mean he _hadn't_ been dreaming?

"Xurik, where-" Seifer called out, rounding the corner, then froze when he saw his friend standing with Hayner's gang. He narrowed his eyes. "Oh. I didn't realize you were busy. So much for working, I guess."

"Hey," Xurik said, then realized how bad this must look. Seifer had to think he was shirking off his share of the work to hang out with another group of friends. He quickly stepped forward to defuse the situation, holding out the munny pouch. "Check it out, Seifer, I found our munny!"

"You did?" Seifer said, surprised. He took the pouch and peered inside curiously. "Yeah... that looks about right." He looked up at Xurik, then glared at Hayner suspiciously. "Where'd you find it?"

"Um..." Xurik's mind raced, trying to think of a decent explanation. "On the ground somewhere. I guess I must have dropped it or something. Sorry, man."

"Well... no harm, no foul." Seifer said after a pause. He smirked. "And hey, at least all of that work won't go to waste. We've got a little extra munny now, thanks to the work that _we_ did." He tossed the pouch in the air cheerfully, caught it, then stuffed it in his pocket. He began to walk away, then glanced over his shoulder at Hayner. "Hey! No chickening out of the tournament tomorrow!"

Hayner looked annoyed, but smirked despite himself. "You got it."

* * *

**011010110110010101111001**

**RESTORATION AT 48%.**

**011010110110010101111001**

* * *

"Was that Naminé made of data?" Sora asked, leaning against the wall behind DiZ.

The man shook his head in frustration. "No. Naminé hijacked the data herself. Look what she's done now... she's totally beyond my control!" Overcome by annoyance, he slammed a fist into the side of the computer console. Sora took a step back, startled by the outburst.

"DiZ, calm down..."

"And you!" DiZ whirled around in his chair, glaring at him with his one uncovered eye. "What were you thinking, revealing yourself to him? You know that his memories are returning to him, of course he recognized you!"

"I didn't think about it," Sora muttered sheepishly. "Anyway, maybe it will just help him remember faster."

DiZ shook his head slowly, growing calmer. "It doesn't matter. As long as Namine accomplishes her goal, we needn't worry about what befalls Xurik."

Sora shook his head slowly. No... he couldn't just ignore Xurik's fate. But what else could he do? This was the only way to bring back Riku... and yet he felt so guilty doing it.


	4. The 4th Day: Struggle

Riku smirked. "No vessel, no help from the Heartless... so tell me, how'd you get here?"

"I simply believed," the Beast said quietly. "Nothing more to it. When you brought darkness to our world and took Belle away from me, I vowed I would find her again no matter what the cost. I believed I would find her. So, here I am. You must have brought her here." The Beast clenched his fist angrily. "I will have her back!"

"Take her if you can," Riku said, grinning.

**011010110110010101111001**

"You mean... you were the one? You were the one who led the Heartless to our world?"

"Yes. I was searching for the Keyblade Master."

Riku's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Why? What do you want with me?"

"The Keyblade holds far more power than you are aware of. I have come to unlock that power."

"But Maleficent already said that she unlocked my full potential."

Riku could not see the man's face, but he could feel his smirk. "She cannot comprehend the forces she toys with. The power of the Keyblade is far greater than anything she could ever imagine. You wish to open the final door, correct?"

**011010110110010101111001**

"Don't you see yet?" Riku said angrily. "Kairi's heart is responding. It has been there all along. Kairi's heart rests within you!"

"Kairi... Kairi's inside me?" Sora gasped, clutching his chest.

"Yes. I don't know why, or how, but it's the truth. And now I'm going to release her heart."

"Wh...what does that mean?" Sora said, taking a step back in fear. Riku smirked, clenching his fist.

"What do you think?" he asked, then slashed the Keyblade through the air, pointing its deadly tip at Sora's chest. "This is a Keyblade that unlocks people's hearts. It's the only way to save Kairi."

"Wait a second," Sora said in panic. He drew his sword, although the hand holding it was shaking. "You can't unlock my heart... won't I turn into a Heartless?"

"If it means saving Kairi, I couldn't care less."

**011010110110010101111001**

"No... Sora, no..." Kairi gasped, as if struggling for breath. She ran towards the spot where Sora had been standing only moments before.

"It was the only way to save you!" Riku said desperately, grabbing Kairi's arm. He forced her to face him. "Kairi, please believe me, he didn't care about you. I'm the one who's been trying to save you this whole time. _Me_!"

**011010110110010101111001**

_What do I do?_ he thought, eyes streaming with hot, bitter tears.

_Let go,_ a voice said somewhere within him. The voice didn't belong to him, and yet it sounded familiar. Was it Ansem? How was he speaking directly into him? Did it even matter anymore?

_You gave Kairi everything; Sora all but abandoned you; you have nothing left in this world. Why live on in pain? Give up your heart; make all of the suffering go away._

Surely nothingness would be better than this pain... wouldn't it? Kairi was gone...

_It doesn't even hurt. Lose yourself... it's so much easier..._

He felt himself slipping away; the aching in his chest began to give way to the sweet relief of soothing numbness. He began losing his sense of self, but what did it matter? He had nothing left... nothing at all. This was a pain that he couldn't endure. It was so much easier to fade away...

**011010110110010101111001**

"Transformation?" Riku repeated in that foreign, unearthly voice.

Ansem chuckled darkly. "Have your really not figured it out yet? Just look at yourself; you've become a subject of darkness like myself. Rid of your mortal shackles, you've unearthed more power than you could have possible dreamed of before."

"Then I'm... a Heartless?" Riku asked, revolted, as he stared down at his hands. Upon closer inspection, he could tell that they didn't seem to be made of skin and flesh at all, so much as some concentrated, cloudy, ethereal substance. His skin was black, purple, and red, and had an odd texture, like sinews of muscle, but made of pure darkness. At the center of his chest was the emblem of the Heartless.

**011010110110010101111001**

"You may be the Keyblade Master, that I can't help," Ansem said quietly. "However, I can at least take your powers for myself. By absorbing your dark energy, I can make the Keyblade mine. I couldn't do it so long as you were a complete human being, but now that you're made of nothing but darkness, it's simple."

"You were planning this all along, weren't you?" Riku asked in horror, icy realization washing over him. "Everything that's happened... it's been caused by you. When you appeared on the islands, you were looking for me. You were trying to bring the Keyblade under your control."

"You played into my plans better than I could have dreamed," Ansem said, chuckling. Riku sank to his knees weakly; the dark Keyblade disappeared from his hand, and reappeared in Ansem's. "Maleficent's manipulation weakened your ties with Sora; it was child's play to make you release Kairi's heart and destroy your only true ally in one instant."

**011010110110010101111001**

"Riku! You're okay!"

That voice. Riku sat up immediately.

"K... Kairi," he said breathlessly. She was staring at him with such a look of joy that he thought his heart might melt.

His heart... he had a heart. He was alive again.

**011010110110010101111001**

"He... he absorbed the heart of the world," Aurora said in disbelief. "How much more powerful must that make him?"

"Damn it!" Leon shouted, throwing his gunblade to the ground with a loud clatter. The floor and walls began to shake. "This world is going to be gone soon enough. It can't exist without a heart!"

"What do we do?" Cinderella said fearfully. The rumbling grew more violent; pieces of stone began to fall from the ceiling. "We'll be destroyed if we stay here!"

**011010110110010101111001**

Kairi sighed, then allowed a small smile. "Okay. You win. But if you're going alone, I want you to have this." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small object. It appeared to be made of five Thalassa shells strung together in the shape of a star; a smiling face had been carefully drawn on.

"What's this?" Riku said, holding it in his hand gently. He felt like he was holding a precious treasure.

"It's my lucky charm. Be sure to bring it back to me!" she said sternly. Riku grinned.

"Don't worry. I will."

"Promise?"

"I promise."

* * *

_**The 4th Day**_

Xurik's eyes blinked open wearily. No matter how early he got to bed lately, he was always so tired... every night was filled with endless dreaming. The persistant nature of them was disturbing enough... let alone their content. Sora being killed by his best friend, Riku turning into a Heartless, or whatever it was called, Kairi saving him... and the promise.

"Promise..." Xurik mumbled. The words sounded so familiar, as if the promise to return home was his own. But he _was_ home... wasn't he? The only promises Xurik had made lately were...

"Shit!" he shouted suddenly, trying to leap out of bed but getting tangled in the covers and flopping heavily to the floor. He got up and struggled to put on his jeans, but rushing just made the task more impossible; all he could think about was his promise to Seifer.

"Shit," he repeated, glancing at the alarm clock across the room. He still had time, but not much. "I'm going to be late for the Struggle Tournament!"

* * *

Xurik arrived in the Sandlot panting and breathless, but barely on time. The walls surrounding the Struggle Ring in the middle of the square were already packed with chattering people. Seifer turned to him, looking relieved and irritated.

"About damn time. What, did you oversleep or something? You better have brought your A-game."

"Of course," Xurik said, flashing him a grin between heavy breaths. He didn't bother mentioning that his fight against the gigantic monster in his hallucination/dream/whatever from the day before had been practice enough. Besides, with everything going on in his life right now, winning a tournament was the least of his cares at the moment. Apathy made him surprisingly stress-free.

"What's up with Vivi, y'know?" Rai asked suddenly, pointing. Normally the introverted boy hung around them like a gadfly, but now he was sulking by himself in a corner of the Sandlot. Fuu peered at him, then shrugged.

"Nervous?"

"For good reason... I'm surprised he made it into the finals at all," Seifer said, a little meanly. He shrugged. "Whatever. More chances for the Twilight Disciplinary Committee to win, I guess."

There was a series of loud pops overhead; smoky fireworks exploded in the twilit sky above, and the crowd cheered.

"Ladies and gentlemen, Struggle-fiends of Twilight Town!" the event producer's voice blared over the loudspeakers. "It's time for summer's most sizzling clash! That's right! Today is the day for the Struggle and title match! Who will be the one to break through the ranks and take on our champion, Setzer?"

"Seifer and Xurik, y'know!" Rai shouted in excitement, his voice drowned out by the cheering crowd.

"And who will leave today as our new Struggle Champion?"

"Hayner!" called out Olette and Pence distantly; Xurik could see them on the other side of the Sandlot, standing next to a nervous-looking Hayner. Their cheers for their friend were drowned out as a sudden chorus of voices began chanting:

"SETZER! SETZER! SETZER! SETZER! SETZER!"

Xurik rolled his eyes; the champion from last summer was famous in town for his astonishing win the year before, but rumors had quickly spread that he had paid off the competition. Judging from Setzer's usual smug, self-entitled expression, Xurik was inclined to believe the rumors, but dozens of rabid fans seemed willing to defend Setzer's reputation to the death.

The producer continued cheerfully. "Yes, the crowd is fired up, so you know what comes next: Let's..."

"STRUGGLE!" the crowd finished for him, then erupted into cheers once more. Xurik began to feel nervous for the first time; was he really supposed to fight in front of all of those people?

The portly Struggle producer ambled off of the stage, then handed the microphone to the event announcer. Xurik realized with surprise that the person moderating the tournament was the local accessory shop owner.

"Hey, now. It's time to introduce today's combatants!" he announced, waving the four combatants on stage; Xurik awkwardly made his way onto the battleground and faced the crowd, standing next to Hayner, who looked equally nervous. "The four bad boys who struggled their way through preliminaries! Regular finalist and head of the Twilight Disciplinary Committee: Seifer!"

"Completely out of nowhere - who knew he'd make it so far this year? - Vivi!"

"An underground favorite and local attitude problem: Hayner! It's his first trip to the finals!"

"And Struggler number 4, who happens to be my absolute favorite customer: Xurik!"

Xurik blushed as the audience cheered for them. Nerves were getting the best of him; his heart was pounding. C_alm down, Xurik, calm down. Deep breaths... you can do this._ He glanced down the line at Seifer, who caught his gaze but looked away. Xurik frowned; Seifer definitely wasn't going to hold back, not even against his friends. He had to be on his guard.

"So: who will win this sweltering summer Struggle? Who will take home the grand prize? The summa cum laude of Struggle: the Four Crystal Trophy? _And_... a chance to take on our defending champion, Setzer!" The silver-haired man held up the heavy gold championship belt. For the first time Xurik wondered what he would look like wearing that - then shook his head. This was about having fun, not winning. Who cared if he became Struggle Champion?

He wouldn't _mind_ it, of course...

First on the bracket were Hayner and himself. Seifer and Vivi made their way off of the Struggle ring, leaving the two opponents; the event producer waddled over to them and handed them both blue Struggle clubs, patting them each on the shoulder before waddling away again.

"Uh... may the best man win," Xurik said, extending his hand.

Hayner rolled his eyes, clutching his club with both hands. "Whatever. I plan to." He backed away, preparing for the battle.

"Our first match of today's Struggle tournament will be between Xurik and Hayner!"

"Go Xurik!" he heard from several people behind him; he grinned. No sweat.

A gunshot went off and the boys charged at each other, Struggle clubs raised high.

* * *

Within three minutes, Hayner collapsed to the floor, energy spent.

"And the winner is Xurik!" the announcer called cheerfully as the crowd roared behind him.

"I lost!" Hayner moaned, flopping onto his back. "Aww, I can't believe it!"

"Awesome job, y'know!" Rai said, patting Xurik on the back as he came down off of the stage. "Next is Seifer and Vivi - this oughtta be good, y'know?"

"You did good," Seifer said, grinning. He began walking towards the stage. "It's my turn now."

"Who do you think's gonna win, y'know?"

Fuu rolled her eyes. "No contest."

Xurik nodded. Everyone knew that Vivi was barely a match for anyone - let alone Seifer. That meant Xurik and Seifer would be fighting each other for the final match... that would be a bit more of a challenge. He came to attention as the crowd began to cheer once more, Seifer and Vivi armed and in place.

"Don't mess with your elders," Seifer muttered quietly; Vivi stared at him silently, his glowing yellow eyes unblinking. Vivi was always harmless, but for some reason gazing at him now, Xurik felt extremely creeped out. Vivi had been acting odd all day.

The gunshot went off, and immediately Vivi leapt through the air at Seifer, blue club spinning wildly. The blond boy jumped out of the way, but Vivi was close behind; the blond whipped around and began attacking, but Vivi blocked every one of Seifer's hits. Rai frowned.

"Vivi's gotten kind of tough, y'know?" he asked, and Xurik and Fuu shrugged.

"Odd..."

Vivi soared at Seifer once more, lashing out at him with his club. Gathering up all of his strength, Seifer knocked the attack away brutally, sending Vivi tumbling away, landing on the ground. Seifer saw his chance and charged forward.

"You're mine!"

Without warning Vivi suddenly sprang to life, launching himself at Seifer and landing a vicious attack. Seifer collapsed backwards, landing painfully on the ground and dropping his Struggle club. The crowd was stunned for a moment, then slowly began to applaud. Even the announcer was slow to respond.

"I-I'm not sure what just happened... um... but... the winner is Vivi! In a positively blistering comeback!"

Xurik stared at Vivi and realized that the boy was staring directly at him; it sent chills down his spine. What was going on? He was acting nothing like the Vivi that he knew.

Seifer got to his feet uneasily and began to walk off stage. Xurik extended a hand to help him down.

"Hey, you did a good-"

"That's not Vivi," Seifer said quietly, then glared at Xurik. "Thrash 'im."

Xurik said nothing as Seifer began to walk away, then peered at Vivi. It had been totally unexpected, but now he was up against Vivi in the final match. Somehow, Xurik wished that he were fighting Seifer after all...

"Keep it clean, fellas," the producer said, looking down at Vivi warily as he handed them both Struggle clubs. Xurik nodded as the portly man made his way off stage.

"And now, the match you've been waiting for: Xurik vs. Vivi!"

As before, Vivi immediately leapt at him, but Xurik was expecting it; he slid out of the way, blocking as Vivi dove in to attack him again, then lashed out at Vivi but missed. Wizard hat flopping wildly, Vivi spun through the air at him, but Xurik blocked it. He winced as he pushed back Vivi's attack; the attacks were so strong that blocking hurt his arms. What was going on with Vivi?

The club barely whistled past his head; Xurik thrust his club forward, catching Vivi in the stomach, but the boy seemed unphased. He dodged yet another one of Vivi's attacks, then managed to block a third; Vivi stumbled backwards slightly from the retaliation, and Xurik saw his chance. He swept forward with lightning speed and smashed his Struggle club into Vivi, sending the boy toppling to the ground. This was his only chance; Xurik ran forward for a final blow while Vivi had no defense.

As his club came down through the air, he felt his arms slowing as if he were being repelled by an opposing magnet. He suddenly realized that the cheering had stopped; glancing around, he realized with shock that the entire crowd was frozen in time, just like before.

He turned his attention back to Vivi, then realized that the boy's yellow eyes were still blinking, his blue-robed chest rising and falling with every breath. Why were Xurik and Vivi the only ones moving? His question was answered, however, when Vivi suddenly vanished in a flash of silver light and was replaced by one of the lithe white monsters. More of the creatures began to appear, surrounding him.

"Not again..." he said through gritted teeth, deeply frustrated. There was a sudden warmth in his hand; in a flash of glowing numbers and lights, the Struggle club transformed into the Keyblade once more. He peered at it curiously; here it was once more, exactly when he needed it. Well, he wasn't about to question it. He glared at the monsters. Fine. If it was a Struggle they wanted, they would get it.

Next to the battle with the super-human Vivi, the monsters seemed almost easy, however. He dodged their attacks and struck out at them with the Keyblade, diminishing them one at a time, until only one was left. He slashed through its chest, destroying it in a shower of silver lights. He panted, glancing around; they seemed to be gone. After fighting Vivi _and_ the monsters, he was now positively exhausted. Everything was still silent... for a moment. Behind him, however, he suddenly heard approaching footsteps, echoing in the stillness.

"Nice job, Xurik," a young voice said warmly. "I guess you've still got it, huh?"

Xurik clenched the Keyblade tightly, staring at the figure. He was wearing a black hooded cloak, boots, and gloves... the only part of the figure that was visible was a shadowy smile, mostly hidden by the hood.

"Who... who are you?"

The boy hesitated. "What? Come on, Xurik..." He reached up and lowered his hood, revealing a smiling face with spiky blonde hair and blue eyes. "It's me. Roxas."

"Roxas?" Xurik said, eyes narrow. He had never met this boy before in his life as far as he knew, but he seemed familiar somehow... and he was wearing a cloak like Sora's. Did they know each other?

"You really don't remember?" Roxas said, looking dejected. "I guess Namine warned me about this, but I didn't think she was serious..."

"You know Naminé?"

"Yeah... I met her recently. She helped me find you. I've been looking for you for three days, ever since we got separated. You remember... or, well, I guess you don't." He looked around the Sandlot warily. "Naminé said this place is his creation... so we've really got to go."

The air suddenly warped around them; Roxas looked around in worry.

"Oh no... I think he knows I'm here."

"Wait a second!" Xurik said, growing frustrated. So much was going on lately, but he wasn't getting any answers. "I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what's going on!"

"But we don't have time!" Roxas said anxiously, looking around, but when he saw the annoyed expression on Xurik's face he sighed, growing frustrated himself. "Fine. I guess you don't remember it, but you're in the Organization with me. Xurik, Number 14. I'm Number 13."

"The Organization?" Xurik shook his head impatiently. "I don't know what that means! Who's Riku? What are those monsters? Why does all of this weird shit keep happening to me?"

"Riku? I don't know who that is, but the monsters are Nobodies like us, and-"

The air around them warped once more; in a piller of glowing numbers and letters, a man suddenly appeared. He was wearing a red robe, and red bandages covered most of his face. Xurik looked from the man to Roxas, then back again; where did these people keep coming from?

"So it's you," Roxas said quietly, glaring at the man. He held out his hand, and in a flash of light, a Keyblade appeared.

"Wait, why do you have a Keyblade?" Xurik asked in shock, pointing down at Roxas's hand. He looked down; his own Keyblade was still grasped tightly in his own hand. Were there two?

The man wasted no time, however, and looked directly at him. "Xurik, never mind that! This boy speaks nonsense!"

"What?" Roxas said, looking annoyed. "No, Xurik, he's lying! I'm telling you the truth!"

"Xurik!"

"Xurik!"

"Xurik!"

He clenched his fists, weariness and frustration taking hold. So much was going on that he felt like his head was about to explode from voices and questions and thoughts and confusion. All he could think of was his friends.

"Seifer... Rai... Fuu... Vivi..." he whispered quietly, then gathered strength from the thought of them, shouting it this time. "Seifer! Rai! Fuu! Vivi!"

Cheering filled his ears; Xurik blinked open his eyes in surprise, and realized that the world had become unfrozen. He had almost forgotten about the Struggle tournament; Vivi was lying on the ground, dazed. Xurik glanced around quickly, but Roxas and the red-clad man were gone.

"What?" the announcer said over the loudspeaker. "What... just happened?"

Vivi blinked, getting to his feet and looking around in confusion. "Huh? How did I get here?"

Xurik couldn't focus; this was too much to take. He kept being thrust from situation to situation; how was he supposed to make sense of anything anymore? Seifer, Rai, and Fuu rushed on stage to congratulate him, but he just felt miserable and confused.

"Ladies and gentlemen, Xurik: our new top Struggler!"

"Awesome job! Almost there!" Seifer patted him on the back cheerfully, then peered at him curiously. "Xurik? You okay man?"

Xurik nodded automatically, although he was having trouble forcing his face into a smile. His mind felt utterly worn out, and it was difficult to focus on winning some fight. He had been so excited about the Struggle tournament before, but now it seemed so insignificant... at least with all of the new information and questions being thrown at him constantly.

"SETZER! SETZER! SETZER! SETZER! SETZER!"

"You gotta get back up there! It's about to start, y'know!" Rai said urgently, pushing Xurik towards the stage. Xurik blinked in confusion; he had forgotten about the title match. He slowly made his way back on stage, as the event producer came once more to give them their Struggle clubs and pat them on the back.

"You two, play fair now," the man said cheerfully. "You're at the top of the bracket."

"There's only room for one up here," Setzer said quietly, staring down Xurik with a smirk.

The producer laughed nervously. "Well, may the best man win!" With that, he waved at the audience and waddled off-stage.

"Hey, Rucksack," Setzer said quietly. "How about you throw the match for me?"

Xurik peered at him curiously, only vaguely paying attention to the conversation. What was he talking about? Lose on purpose? Were the rumors about Setzer's last win true, then?

"Xurik! Pay attention!" Seifer shouted from behind him, and Xurik suddenly shook his head, clearing his mind. No matter what insane bullshit was going on with his dreams and hallucinations... his friends were counting on him.

"Let me win, and I'll make it worth your while," Setzer continued, smirking.

Xurik smirked back. Yes, he was frustrated, confused, and angry - but what better way to channel those emotions than into a fight? Anger had always made him stronger. He swung the club fiercely through the air, then pointed it at Setzer's chest, glaring at him.

"Go screw yourself."

"Xurik, our underdog hero, versus Setzer, our defending champion!" the announcer said from over the loudspeakers. "The winner of this match will be the true champion! That's bragging rights for a whole year, folks!"

Setzer was glaring at him now; it was clear that he wasn't used to being defied. "Whatever you think is right... you're wrong." He pointed the club at Xurik. "And that is a big mistake."

* * *

Setzer cried out in pain as Xurik dealt the finishing blow, sending the older man sprawling to the ground, his Struggle club clattering away into the audience. He slammed a fist into the dusty stage. "I'm not supposed to lose!"

Xurik began to respond, but he was interrupted by the crowd exploding into applause and cheers.

"XURIK! XURIK! XURIK! XURIK! XURIK!"

He stared out at them in surprise, turning slightly red. He had won... that made him the new champion, didn't it?

"Xurik!" Seifer said, nearly tackling him in glee as he put the younger boy in a chokehold.

"You did it, y'know!"

"New champion!"

"You guys... thanks," Xurik said finally, forgetting his problems and beaming at his friends. He waved at the cheering spectators, then stopped as the producer walked forward proudly and handed him the golden championship belt. Xurik held it up, and all of his worries were, at least for a moment, drowned out by the roar of the crowd.

* * *

The setting sun glinted off of the elaborate blue trophy, its four crystals like gemstones. The five friends were perched on the clock tower ledge, gazing at it with admiration. After a moment, Xurik grasped the yellow crystal orb, pulling at it until it snapped loose. He tossed it to Seifer, then did the same with the red and blue crystals, handing them to Rai and Vivi. He took the green orb for himself, holding it up to the sun and watching as the sunbeams danced within it.

"Just like I promised."

"Thanks."

"This is great, y'know!"

Seifer held out his to the sunset, smiling faintly. "Something else that we can share."

Vivi looked down at his empty hands in disappointment, but Rai nudged him. "Don't worry, man! There's not enough crystals, but Fuu's got something even better, y'know?"

"Sea-salt ice cream," Fuu said, smiling slightly and producing five of the blue bars from her bag. Vivi leapt to his feet in excitement. "Oh boy!"

Xurik got to his feet as well, but had to step back as the three boys rushed to Fuu. He suddenly felt the edge of the ledge slip from beneath his feet. He shouted in alarm, but before he could stop himself he wobbled, then lost his balance and plundged backwards over the edge, the bricks of the plaza below rushing up to meet him, his green crystal flying out of his hand as he plummeted.

* * *

"Kairi! Wait up!"

She turned, smiling slightly as she saw Selphie running down the path towards her. She would have been happier to see her friend if she didn't have so much on her mind. As it was, Kairi had been useless during classes lately, and even now she was decidedly unenthusiastic about the school day ending... so it was difficult to match the endless enthusiasm of the energetic Selphie.

"Hey, do you feel like going out to the island?" Selphie continued, then scrunched up her face into a pout. "Tidus and Wakka are all wrapped up in their ballgame and they won't go with me."

Kairi glanced out at the distant ocean, then slowly shook her head. "Not today, sorry."

"Aw, why not?"

She hesitated. It was a difficult issue to talk about... even now, it was difficult to believe that the events from a year ago weren't just an elaborate dream. Selphie was one of her best friends though... and she had to talk to _someone_ about this.

"Do you remember those boys who used to hang out with us?"

"Sora?"

"Yeah."

Selphie smiled faintly, then gazed out at the sunset. "I wonder whatever happened to him. I sure miss him."

Kairi couldn't help but to smile. No one else on the islands knew it, but Sora had been coming to visit her - not often, but once a month or so. She missed him... but she understand that he had things he had to do. What those things were, he refused to tell her.

"He's far away," she said finally. "But I know we'll see him again."

"Sure. Of course we will."

Kairi heistated for a moment; could she really bring this up? She had to sound insane talking about someone that no one, herself included, remembered. But... Sora always grew quiet and changed the subject when she tried to ask him about it, which was proof enough that she wasn't crazy.

"And the other boy?"

Selphie looked confused. "What other boy?"

"The one who was with Sora and me all the time... we played together on that island." She gazed out at the island, just visible over the rooftops of their small seaside village. "His voice always used to be there... but now it's gone. I can't think of his face, or his name. I feel awful about it." She turned to Selphie and shrugged. "So I told myself - I'm not going to the island until I remember everything about him."

Selphie was looking at Kairi warily, then gave a kind smile. "Are you sure you didn't make him up?"

Kairi sighed. Of course she sounded moronic... no one else seemed to remember a thing about the boy. Maybe she _had_ made him up, but...

_Naminé?_

Kairi's hand leapt to her head as pain seared through it; she winced as sparks danced in front of her eyes, before finally collapsing in a heap on the ground.

* * *

Xurik could feel the air rushing past him as he fell, but couldn't move. Around him, it was as if time had slowed down, and he felt as if he were falling forever. He had heard a voice, hadn't he? She had been talking about a boy, but... where was the voice coming from? Where was she?

_Naminé...? What's going on?_

_Who are you?_ the voice asked from within his head. _And that's not my name. I'm Kairi._

That name sounded familiar... but from where? But of course... his dreams. First Sora, now her...

_Kairi... I remember. You're the one he's in love with._

_Who?_ Kairi's voice said, desperate now. _Please, a name!_

_I'm Xurik._

_Okay, Xurik, but can you tell me HIS name?_

From somewhere deep within the recesses of his mind, Xurik felt a third voice - a boy's. Who was it?

_Kairi... you don't remember me? I guess I've missed a lot._ The voice hesitated; Xurik could almost feel the smirk that the speaker had to have on his face. _Alright. Since you've forgotten, let's start over. It's nice to meet you... I'm Riku._

* * *

Kairi winced, blinking in the golden sunlight of twilight. Selphie was kneeling over her, looking worried.

"Are you okay?"

Kairi nodded, then got to her feet and dusted off her school uniform. Though her head was still throbbing, her heart was pounding in excitement. She gazed off at the islands, then looked at Selphie and flashed her a huge grin. Without another word, she took off running towards the beach; Selphie ran after her, trying desperately to keep up.

By the time she caught up with her, she was breathless. "Kairi..." Selphie said, panting as she approached the seashore. She looked at Kairi curiously as she let loose a glass bottle into the ocean; she could barely see a scrap of paper rolled up inside of it, bobbing among the waves. "What's that?"

"A letter," Kairi said with a smile. "I wrote it yesterday, to the boy I can't remember. I said that no matter where he is... I'll find him. One day. And when I stopped writing, I remembered we made a promise, something important."

"Looks like you're starting to remember."

Kairi turned quickly, then beamed as she saw a boy in a black cloak walking towards them across the sand. She ran forward and hugged him. "Sora!"

"Sora?" Selphie said, looking at him in awe. "You're back! You've been gone for months!"

"Hey Selphie," he said cheerfully, smiling at her then at Kairi. Kairi grinned at him, then looked out at the message.

"Yes, Sora... I'm starting to remember. I know you can't tell me about him, but... that's okay. I want to remember him on my own." Kairi smiled out at the bottle, its glass glinting in the setting sun as it began to float further out. "This letter is where it starts. I know it."

Selphie was silent for a moment, then smiled brightly. "Wow... I hope he gets it."

"He will," Kairi said, smiling and feeling more excited than she had in a year. "Right, Riku?"

* * *

**011010110110010101111001**

**RESTORATION AT 79%.**

**011010110110010101111001**

* * *

DiZ typed quietly at his computer terminal, then smiled faintly.

"His progress is astounding."

Sora nodded, leaning against the wall. He held up the green crystal orb, peering at it curiously; Xurik had dropped it when he fell. "What happened back there? Kairi told me that she remembered Riku's name... but how did she become linked with Xurik?"

"Naminé's encounter with Xurik put his heart in contact with Kairi's. And that, in turn, affected Riku. You see?"

Sora nodded slowly - that made sense. He already had his suspicions about Naminé's origins. He looked over at the monitor showing Riku's progress - the numbers slowly ticked from 79% to 80%, increasing as his memories fell into place.

"Naminé sure is something."

"She wasn't born like other Nobodies," DiZ muttered, editing a program on his monitor. "Because of this, she can interfere with your heart and memories, Sora... as well as those of the people aligned with you." He glanced back at Sora, smirking slightly. "That includes Riku."

Sora nodded - he remembered the events at Castle Oblivion well. "Why does she have to do with me, though? Whose Nobody is she?"

"You mean you haven't guessed already?"

Sora gave a small smile; if DiZ expected him to know, then his guesses were probably right.

"She's Kairi... isn't she?"

DiZ smirked. "You see? You don't need my help after all."

* * *

"A pardon?" Axel narrowed his eyes, peering up at Xemnas. "What do you mean?"

The Round Room was emptier than usual; on top of having their members fall one by one, this was a fairly private meeting. Xaldin glared down at him from his own white chair.

"It's an order. Why are you hesitating? Aren't you the one who dealt swift merciless judgment to those who turned their back on the Organization?"

"Yeah, but-"

"We need the Keyblade," Xemnas said quietly. "We can control the Keyblade Master once he awakens, but it will be a much simpler task to control one of our own."

Axel shook his head; he didn't trust this situation at all. If there was one thing Xemnas never did, it was show pity - so why would he suddenly forgive both Xurik and Roxas after they abandoned the Organization? Who was to say this wasn't an elaborate trap to destroy them both? But they _did_ need the Keyblade, so at least that made sense... but something about this deal seemed fishy. The Organization had become anything but safe lately.

"It's simple," Xaldin said in an annoyed tone. "If Roxas brings back Xurik, they will both be pardoned. We may have to control Xurik more directly for his transgressions in the past, but they will be safe. However..." Xaldin clenched his fist. "If they _don't_ come back, then they must both pay the price. And if you oppose these orders, _you_ will be the one to pay."

Xemnas nodded quietly; he held up his hand menacingly and it began to glow with energy. Axel peered up at him, defeated.  
"You would turn me into a Dusk?" He sighed deeply, then waved Xemnas away. "Fine! I'll do it, I'll do it!" He would do anything to make things go back to the way they were... so what else could he do?


	5. The 5th Day: Sanity

**_The 5th Day_**

_Falling, falling through darkness..._

Xurik gasped, bolting upright in bed. He was pale and sweating - what had he just been dreaming about? He vaguely remembered hearing the voices of Kairi and Riku, and falling off of the clock tower... but that was impossible. He would be dead if that had actually happened. But then why didn't he remember anything else after getting ice cream with his friends? He didn't remember going home, but here he was in his bed...

"Was I just dreaming?" he mumbled, then narrowed his eyes. Which parts were the dream?

* * *

"No way."

"But-"

"I told you, I'm not doing that stupid homework assignment," Seifer said, reclining on a bench. "We've only got three days of summer vacation left, I've got better things to do."

"Whatever," Fuu said, rolling her eyes. She glanced at Xurik and he shrugged; he had already finished his independent study weeks beforehand, knowing that this would probably happen. This was far from unusual; Seifer usually just made up some excuse for their teachers about how he had been busy with official Twilight Disciplinary Committee business, then got the mayor to sign off on it. It would be hard for Seifer convince their teachers that he had been completely busy for the entire summer without a single opportunity to do the homework... but that wasn't Xurik's problem. He had other things to worry about.

"Hey," Xurik said suddenly. "Yesterday... did I fall off of the station tower?"

Rai looked surprised, but shook his head. "No way! You'd be a goner if you did, y'know?"

"Close one, though."

Xurik nodded slowly. So no one remembered him falling off... but that was all he remembered. Falling, hearing voices in his head, and then waking up in bed. Yet more evidence suggesting that he was slowly going insane.

"So what should we do today?" Xurik said finally, changing the subject. A distraction was what he really needed.

"Well, we could try going back to the beach... but since the Seaside festival is the day after tomorrow, it seems like we might as well save our money and just go then."

"Project," Fuu said adamantly, and Seifer rolled his eyes.

"Fine, go do it if you really want to be a lamer."

Vivi waddled over to the blue-haired girl. "Fuu, will you help me with mine?"

"Sure."

"Well, I'm not gonna bother," Rai said cheerfully. "I'm flunking out anyway, y'know? So I'll just hang with you, Seifer."

"That's the spirit," Seifer said, laughing. "Xurik, you in? You finished already, right?"

"Yeah, I did."

"Cool, then we can-" Seifer began, but stopped mid-sentence as he saw Hayner running into the Sandlot. He scowled. "Hey, Chicken-wuss! Shouldn't you be losing a tournament, or whatever it is that you usually do?"

"Go shove it, Seifer," Hayner said, rolling his eyes. "I need a favor."

Seifer smirked, sitting upright. "Is that so? Why on earth should I help you out?"

"You know that independent study we're supposed to do? Well, Pence has some list of places he wants to study... the 'Seven Wonders of Twilight Town' or something."

"Oh yeah! Like the steps at the Sunset Terrace train station, y'know?" Rai said suddenly. "I discovered that one. Every time I count, it's different, y'know?"

"Are you sure you're not just counting wrong?" Xurik asked, but Hayner waved his hand dismissively.

"Whatever, that's what our project is for. Anyway, most of the 'Wonders' we can go check out ourselves... but one of them is that old mansion in the woods. We were gonna see if you guys would be willing to help explore it. It could be dangerous."

Seifer was silent for a moment, then shrugged. "Sure. I've been meaning to check that place out for a while anyway."

"Really?" Hayner said, looking shocked. He grinned. "Cool. See you tomorrow, then."

As Hayner ran off, Xurik glanced at Seifer. "You're really going to help them, just like that?"

"Why not? It's our job, after all." Seifer shrugged. "Besides, don't you wanna know what's in there?"

"I guess..." Xurik muttered. After all of the crazy stuff happening in the town recently, some old musty house was the least of his worries.

"What do you mean, you guess?" Seifer laid down on the bench, looking at Xurik pointedly. "I'm doing this for you, you know."

"What...?"

"Ever since those weird guys in white stole those photos, things have been weird in town, right? Your dreams, our munny getting stolen, more of those monsters..." He shrugged. "So, I'm getting some people together to help search the town tomorrow. And that mansion _is_ the most suspicious place."

"Besides, it'll be cool to see what's inside, y'know?"

"Oh... thanks," Xurik said, feeling embarrassed. Seifer had organized all that for him? At least his friends had _some_ faith in his sanity... even if he didn't.

* * *

The day ended up being entirely uneventful. Xurik and Seifer fought a few practice struggle matches against each other, but after staying mostly tied, they grew bored with it and took to walking around town. Sometime in the afternoon, Seifer, Rai, and Xurik decided to take a free train to the Sunset Terrace. Rai ran into Fuu and Vivi and decided to hang out with them while they finished their project; Xurik and Seifer decided to check out Sunset Hill. As they neared the hill, however, they realized that Hayner's gang was already there.

"We've gotta make it to the beach next year," Olette was saying as they approached the top of the hill.

"Yeah," Hayner said. "We better get jobs the second vacation starts."

"Good afternoon, slackers," Seifer said with a smirk, approaching. "What are you doing out here?"

Hayner scowled. "What do you care?"

Seifer considered for a moment then shrugged. "I don't. Tell me anyway."

Pence pointed at the tracks below. "We're waiting for the ghost train."

Seifer laughed. "Waiting for the ghost train!" he repeated mockingly. Xurik frowned.

"The...what?"

Pence grinned up at Xurik. "If the rumors are true, it'll be here any minute... for they say the train is empty. No driver, no conductor, no passengers... _NO RETURN_."

"Yeah right," Seifer said, rolling his eyes. "You little kiddies still believe in Santa Claus, too?"

Xurik said nothing, watching the tracks; it wouldn't surprise him if the ghost train _was_ real, considering all of the strange things that had been happening lately. In fact, some train would be way more normal than these dreams, or those monsters... 'nobodies,' hadn't Roxas called them? Xurik leaned over the wooden railing, peering down at the tracks far below, then noticed that part of the side of the cliff was destroyed.

"Hey, what happened here?" Xurik said suddenly. A portion of the wooden fence was splintered off, and there were bits of dirt and grass torn out of the side of the hill. He had never noticed it there before.

"Dunno," Pence said, frowning and inspecting the spot closely. "Looks like a fight or something. That can't be safe... if you fell off of that, you'd be dead."

"Hey, look here!" Olette said suddenly, leaning as far over the fence as possible. "Those holes in the dirt look like keyholes. There are two of them! Weird, huh?"

Xurik craned his neck to look at it, then felt his chest seize up in shock. They looked like keyholes, alright... but judging from the size of them, they were the perfect size for a Keyblade, as if someone had jammed a Keyblade into the side of the cliff. How was that possible, though? He couldn't help but think of that Roxas kid... he was the only other person Xurik knew of that had a Keyblade. Had he caused it? But there were two keyholes... and nobody had two Keyblades, did they?

"Maybe that can be our eighth wonder or something!" Pence was saying excitedly. "I've never even heard of this one before!"

"Let's just focus on the ghost train for now," Hayner said with a smirk.

"Wait... look!" Xurik said suddenly, pointing down at the tracks. All thoughts of Keyblades fled his mind as a train came around the side of the distant mountain, chugging along towards the station. It was a deep blue and was decorated with golden stars and moons - and as far as Xurik could tell, there was nobody on board, just like the rumors said. In all of his years of living in Twilight Town, he had never seen a train like it.

"What is it?" Hayner said with a frown, peering down at the tracks.

"That train! There's no one on board, and it looks totally different from the other trains!" he said excitedly.

Seifer frowned, glancing at him. "Uh... Xurik..."

"That's gotta be the Ghost Train! So it's actually real?" He looked at the others for confirmation, who were all exchanging uneasy glances, then gave an exasperated sigh. There was no time for this. "Come on, Seifer! We've gotta catch it!" Without another word, Xurik set off running down the hill towards Sunset Terrace proper.

"Xurik, wait!" Seifer called, but Xurik ignored him; there was no time to lose. Finally his friend sighed and took off running after him.

When they reached the Sunset Station, Xurik's heart leapt. The ghost train was sitting still at the platform, its doors open expectantly. He hesitated for a second, then shook his head - he wasn't about to let fear stop him from stepping into the unknown.

"Let's get on it, who knows where it might-" he began, stepping forward, but was stopped as Seifer grabbed his arm firmly. He turned back in irritation. "_What_, Seifer?"

"You'll... walk off the platform," Seifer said uneasily, looking at Xurik with concern. Xurik frowned, turning back to the blue train - but was shocked to see nothing there.

"Wh... what? But I-"

"_The train will be arriving shortly_," a voice said calmly over the station loudspeakers. A moment later, another train pulled into the station - not a blue starry train, but a tan and brick-red one like all the others. Passengers began to trickle off.

"But... there was a blue train," Xurik said weakly, looking at Seifer pleadingly. "It came from the beach, didn't you... see it?"

"There was nothing there," Seifer said, frowning at Xurik. He patted him on the back gently. "Maybe we should just... head home. You could probably use some rest."

"Right... rest," Xurik muttered. Now he was hallucinating entire trains, and nearly getting himself killed by jumping onto train tracks. There was no way around it... either he was crazy, or everyone else was. Schizophrenia... wasn't that what this was called? Seeing things that weren't there? Hearing voices?

"Oh, wait for us, y'know!" Rai said, running towards the train with Fuu and Vivi close behind. "We were just about to head back."

"Project finished," Fuu said with a smile.

"Xurik? Are you okay?" Vivi asked innocently, tugging on the leg of Xurik's jeans.

"Uh... yeah," Xurik said finally, faking a smile at the boy. There was no reason to let his depression spread to his friends. He stepped onto the waiting train. "Let's just go."

* * *

Xurik tried to enjoy hanging out with his friends, but there was too much on his mind. He was already caught up on everything that was happening, but then he also had to wonder whether or not any of it was real. On top of that, he kept catching his friends giving him worried glances or talking to each other in hushed tones. It was difficult enough thinking that he was crazy... let alone having his friends think so, too.

"I think I'm going to head home early," he said finally, standing. He smiled weakly at them. "Get some sleep before tomorrow."

"Yeah... rest up," Seifer said, giving a small smile. "I'm sorry you're down, man... things'll look up in the morning. Don't forget, we're searching the town tomorrow!"

"Sure," Xurik said, smiling but not meaning it. "Night, guys."

He began to head towards his house, but started dwelling on everything that was going on. Finally he sighed, pausing by the entrance to the forest. The mansion _was_ the most suspicious place... if only finding the answers to the mysteries of his life was as simple as going in some house. He slowly began to walk through the forest, until eventually the locked gates of the mansion loomed over him. When was the last time anyone had lived here? The columns in the front yard were crumbling to the ground, but the curtains in the windows looked surprisingly new. Xurik frowned, peering up at one of the windows on the second floor. For a second he thought he saw a blonde girl wearing white looking down at him, but-

"Weren't you planning on checking out the mansion tomorrow?" a voice said from behind him suddenly, making him jump in surprise. He whirled around, heart-pounding, to find Pence standing behind him. "Hayner said he asked Seifer to help out."

"Oh... yeah," Xurik said, glancing back at the mansion. "So... this is supposed to be one of those 'Seven Wonders,' right?"

"Yup. The other six turned out to be bogus..."

"And this one? What's so wonderful about it?"

Pence's face brightened. "Well, they say there's a girl who appears at the second floor window, even though no one's lived here for years."

"A girl, huh?" Xurik said, frowning and peering up at the window. The white curtain fluttered in the breeze, and for a second he thought he could see the familiar-looking girl again...

* * *

_Where am I?_

The white walls were covered in crayon drawings, and more drawings were littered across the white table and floor. He could see dozens of them... some showing people, some showing places. Either way, Xurik remembered them all from his dreams. There was one piece of paper close to him - it showed Kairi holding a star-shaped fruit. A Paupu fruit, wasn't it?

"Xurik..."

He turned, and realized that the blond girl from a couple of days prior was sitting at the far end of the table. He smiled slightly, then noticed a drawing on the wall next to him. He frowned; it showed three boys, one with blond hair, one with red, and one with steel-gray. All three were wearing black cloaks like Roxas and Sora's. He frowned at the grey-haired boy.

"Is that... me? And Roxas... but who's that other guy?"

"That's Axel," Naminé said, smilng slightly. "The three of you are best friends."

"That's ridiculous," Xurik muttered. "I don't even know who they are."

Naminé hesitated. "Don't you want to know the truth about who you really are?"

Xurik paused. "I... I thought I knew. But so much has been happening lately that I'm not even sure."

Naminé pointed at a sketch on the wall near them. "You know these three, don't you?"

"Of course. Riku, Sora, and Kairi... they're from the dreams. And I met Sora the other day, so... they're not just dreams, are they?"

"No. About a year ago, some things happened, and I had to take apart the memories chained together in Riku's heart," Naminé said, looking down at the table with what looked like shame. "But now... I'm putting them all back exactly the way they were. It's taken me a long time, but pretty soon Riku will be his old self again. The process has been affecting you too, Xurik."

"So then... my dreams are... Riku's memories?"

"Yes... you and Riku are connected. And... in order for Riku to become completely whole again... he needs you."

Xurik stared up at a sketch hanging on the wall, showing him holding hands with the silver-haired boy. Xurik and Riku together.

"Why does he need me?"

"You hold half of what he is."

Xurik was silent for a moment, soaking this in. He held half of Riku? What did that even mean?

"Naminé," he said finally, looking across the table at the girl. "Who are you?"

"I'm a witch with power over Sora's memories and those around him," she said quietly. "I'm connected with his heart... and it's because of his close connection with Riku that I can control Riku's memories too."

"Because they're best friends..."

"Yes. But I'm afraid I've caused Riku and his friends more harm than good... which is what I'm trying to fix now."

Xurik nodded slowly. His gaze rested on the drawing of him, Roxas, and Axel. He didn't know them at all, but... why did the image look so familiar?

"I've tried to tell myself that this is all in my head, but... no matter what I do, I just keep getting more confused. I don't even know who I am any more." He looked up at Naminé pleadingly. "Naminé, tell me... who am I? Why does everyone else seem to know more about me than I do? Who am I, really?"

Naminé looked pained, then lowered her head. "You... you were never supposed to exist, Xurik."

Xurik looked at her for a moment, stunned, then shook his head. "Ouch. I don't even know what that's supposed to mean."

"It means that you're-"

* * *

"Xurik! Xurik!"

Xurik stared at the window, dazed, then realized suddenly that Pence was shaking him roughly. He blinked, confused - what had just happened? Hadn't he just been having a conversation with Naminé, or had he been standing here the whole time? Talk about out-of-body experiences...

"Did you see her?"

"Yeah," Xurik said suddenly, excited for a chance to prove his sanity to somebody. He pointed up at the window. "Watch where those curtains are, they-" he began, then froze. Naminé had been standing there moments before, but now she seemed to be gone.

"Oh, lame," Pence said with a sigh. "That's just the curtains moving. There must be a draft somewhere. I'm surprised this old place even has curtains."

Pence turned and began to walk away; Xurik glanced up at the window one last time, to see Naminé smiling down at him once more.

_I was never supposed to exist... what does that even mean? Dammit, Naminé... what's going on?_

* * *

Roxas stood at the edge of a building, watching Xurik pass by far below. He sighed deeply - what was he supposed to do? He wanted to help Xurik, but he didn't even remember him... and it was an even harder matter to sneak him out of the simulated Twilight Town without that bandaged guy noticing.

"What's up, partner?"

Roxas whirled around, then grinned widely, nearly tackling the man in excitement. "Axel! What are you doing here?"

"I managed to break into that guy's system. I don't have much time before he starts to notice that I'm here, you know." The redhead peered down at the quiet streets as the steel-haired boy disappeared around the corner. "How's Xurik?"

"He's... okay," Roxas said quietly. "They did something to him though... and now he doesn't even remember us."

"I was worried that might happen," Axel said quietly. He turned to Roxas, his joking demeanor gone. "Listen. You've got to bring Xurik back to the Organization."

Roxas lowered his head. "You know we can't go back. They'll turn Xurik into a Dusk for abandoning them, and I broke out of jail-"

"Correction: _I_ broke _you_ out of jail."

"Like that matters," Roxas said hotly. "Unless you want Xemnas to destroy you, too. And we all know how much you hate putting yourself on the line."

"I said I was sorry," Axel said quietly. "Anyway, listen. Xemnas has offered you guys a pardon. He says if you and Xurik both come back to the Organization, you're off the hook. All sins forgiven."

"And you actually believed him?"

"Well... he needs the Keyblade," Axel muttered. "It's the best plan we've got."

"_Or_ you could leave, help me save Xurik, and the three of us can have nothing to do with Organization XIV ever again."

Axel hesitated, then shook his head slowly. "Roxas, you know I can't-"

"That's what I thought," Roxas said quietly. He dug through his pocket, then threw a piece of wood at Axel; it clattered to the ground. It was a wooden ice-cream stick with the word WINNER! written on it in faded ink. "You can have this back."

"Roxas..."

"We can't go back, Axel," Roxas said quietly, staring down at the streets below. His chest was pounding, but he refused to look at his friend. "Xemnas doesn't care about us, he just cares about the Keyblade and Kingdom Hearts."

"Don't you want a heart, too?"

"Not if it means sacrificing everything I care about to get it," Roxas said hotly. He glared at Axel. "I'm not going back. Got it memorized?"

Without another word, Roxas vanished in a whirl of darkness. Axel sighed, staring down at the wooden popsicle stick, then slowly bent down, picked it up, and put it in his pocket.

"Dammit, Roxas. I'm not about to lose everything _I_ care about, either."

* * *

"Why did you let him see that train?"

DiZ sat in a wooden chair pensively; a broken chandelier lay atop a wooden table in the center of the room. Sora leaned against the doorframe, watching the man curiously.

"Because he missed the trip to the beach," DiZ said dryly.

"Really? That's surprisingly nice, for you."

"Not all of us can be the embodiment of altruism like you, Sora," he said with a sigh, massaging his temples. Sora rolled his eyes; he could tell DiZ was getting tired of him, and the feeling was mostly mutual. He couldn't wait for Riku to awaken.

"Now... what about you?" DiZ said suddenly, looking up at Sora piercingly. "Are the holes in your memory starting to fill in?"

"Yeah," Sora said quietly. He remembered far more of Riku than most people did - most people forgot him entirely when Naminé began rearranging his memories. Still though... there were pieces missing. "There are parts that I had forgotten... stuff from when we were kids, pieces from different worlds. But it's all coming back now."

"The same thing is happening to everyone who had ties to Riku. Very soon, to them, he'll be like a good friend who's gone away for a year... or an nemesis, in some cases," the man said with a smirk.

"Riku's changed," Sora snapped. "He's not going to let himself be taken over by darkness again."

"A pity, too," DiZ said, smiling. "He wields it so masterfully..."

"What do you want with him?" Sora said irritably. "You're not just helping him because you're nice. What do you get out of this?"

"Revenge."

Sora blinked, surprised. "Revenge? On who?"

"Never you mind," DiZ said, standing. "Now, for the finishing touches. First, we must dispose of Naminé. She did a splendid job with Riku, but it's high time she disappeared. Xurik isn't the only one who was never meant to exist."

"What?" Sora said, eyes narrow. "Naminé? But she's done nothing but help you this entire time!"

"Your point? She's a Nobody, Sora. She doesn't even have a heart."

"She's got more of a heart than you do."

"A point I won't argue," DiZ said faintly. He glared at Sora through his red bandages. "Either way, that's an order, Sora."

Sora was silent for a moment, then turned away. "Fine," he said, then vanished in a swirl of darkness.


	6. The 6th Day: Sleep

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**RESTORATION AT 97%**

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"This is all that's left of the worlds taken by the Heartless," Cinderella said quietly. "I can sense it. This must be the heart of all darkness."

"If you can destroy it, all should return to its original state," Snow White chimed in. "All of the worlds that were destroyed will be restored. But to do that, you have to stop Ansem."

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"Don't feel bad; it's not _entirely_ your fault that you destroyed your home, your family, and even your best friend in your selfishness. It's perfectly natural. Your heart belongs to darkness. All worlds begin in darkness, and all so end. The heart is no different. Darkness sprouts within it, it grows, it consumes it. Such is its nature. In the end, every heart returns to the darkness whence it came."

Ansem suddenly vanished, reappearing behind him; Riku turned quickly to face him.

"You see, darkness is the heart's true essence!" Ansem said fiercely.

"That's not true!" Riku found himself shouting.

**011010110110010101111001**

"I know I'm not one to speak," Riku said quietly. "You're right. I wanted that power for myself; I craved it. But that's not who I am."

"Not who you are?" Ansem said, voice dripping with scorn. "Who are you trying to fool? You have shown enormous willpower; you showed no fear in opening yourself up to the darkness. You became darkness itself!"

"I know that," Riku insisted. "I know that my heart was weak. I know that I gave in to my emotions and desires far too easily. But no more." He pulled Kairi's good luck charm from his pocket, squeezing it tenderly. "No matter how deep the darkness, a light shines within. It was that light that saved me from this twisted path. I know that now."

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"Kingdom Hearts! Fill me with the power of darkness!" Dark wisps of smoke began to seep from the edges of the door, trailing towards Ansem. "Supreme darkness..."

"You're wrong, Ansem. I know now, without a doubt... Kingdom Hearts is light!"

The door burst open, and the dark smoke was cut through with a piercing beam of brilliant light, more magnificent and warming than any Riku had ever seen before. Ansem, who had been floating directly in front of the door, was bathed in its light. He stared into it with shock.

"Wha... light? But why..."

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"Now, Riku! Let's close this door for good!"

"Close it, quick!" Sora insisted, straining against the door, but Riku didn't obey. How could the King ask him to close the door with himself and Sora still trapped within? There was so much that he wanted to say to Sora... he had fought so hard to get back to him...

"Don't worry," the King said with a smile. "There will always be a door to the light."

Sora nodded. He looked like he was trying to be brave, but Riku could see the sadness beneath the smile. "You can trust him. It's okay... we'll find each other again. Then all three of us can go home together."

Riku hesitated, feeling his heart torn between the two decisions. Finally, he gave in. "Okay." He pushed all of his weight against the door, and Sora began to pull from the other side; slowly the door began to close.

Moments before the door shut completely, Sora turned to look at Riku. Tears began to fill his eyes, but he smiled. "Riku, take care of her."

Riku nodded; he had to try hard to stop himself from tearing up as well. This was it. With a final, mighty shove, the door closed with an echoing boom.

**011010110110010101111001**

There was a faint rumbling sound. Turning, Riku scanned the area for the cause of the noise, and his eyes fell on Kairi. She was standing a good distance away; she looked confused as to how she had gotten there.

"K...Kairi!" he shouted, running towards her.

"Riku!" she said. A tremor shook the ground; Kairi fell forward, and Riku caught her arm. Sand was forming around Kairi's feet, and Riku immediately realized what was happening: the worlds were returning to their original states. The Destiny Islands were returning, and they were taking Kairi with them.

"Kairi," Riku said urgently, as she began to drift away from him. He only had a moment, he knew, and he needed to make it count. "I have to find Sora, I'm sorry. But don't forget, I'm never really gone. Our hearts are connected, so I'm always with you. I'll come back to you, I promise!"

The patch of sand Kairi was standing on pulled further away, and soon Riku and Kairi were barely able to hold on to one another. They met each other's eyes, and a million unspoken things passed between them. Finally, Kairi smiled.

"I know you will!"

**011010110110010101111001**

"What are you doing here, boy?" Riku asked aloud. It was stupid, of course, to be asking a dog a question, but he needed to remember that not every world was the same. What if this dog could talk?

The dog merely wagged its tail, and Riku chuckled. "No use asking, huh?" What was it doing here, he wondered? He suddenly spotted something in the dog's mouth.

It was an envelope bearing a seal with three circles on it. It was identical to the keychain on his Keyblade.

_That's... the king's seal!_

"Hey, have you seen King Mickey?" Riku asked, excited. If he found the King, Sora would probably be with him. He finally had a lead.

The dog merely wagged its tail, then bounded off down the path. Was he leading the way?

**011010110110010101111001**

Riku stared up at the starry night sky, deep in thought. Each tiny pinprick of light in the deep blue expanse burned brightly. Not long ago, those stars had all been disappearing one by one...

He sat up. This was hopeless; he couldn't sleep, and it seemed pointless to continue trying. He got to his feet, then surveyed the area slowly. The grassy green hills stretched on for miles around him; a single dirt path cut through it, with no end in sight. Riku had been following the path for the past two days, but he had still gotten nowhere. The orange dog with the letter from King Mickey had long since disappeared into the horizon, taking away his only lead. Still, he had no better options than to follow this path; it had to end eventually. At least, he hoped it would.

**011010110110010101111001**

Riku nearly jumped out of his skin in shock. In a flash of light, the Keyblade was in his hand and pointed at the intruder. Judging from the voice, it was a man. He was wearing a black hooded cloak; Riku couldn't see anything beneath. Why on earth hadn't Riku heard him approach?

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He found himself staring up at the strangest castle he had ever seen. Pointed, arrow-shaped towers jutted out from the castle in random places, some of them sideways or even upside-down. It didn't seem to be supported by anything, either: the very ground stopped at the end of the path. Other than a small strip of land leading to the door, the castle seemed to be floating in the middle of nothingness. Riku approached it cautiously.

"Is this where he went?" he mumbled to himself. He pushed hard against the huge front door; it yielded and opened slowly. Taking a deep breath, Riku stepped forth and-

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Waves quietly lapped at the dark shore. Clouds blotted a dark sky - the only light came from a silvery moon, sitting far along the horizon. There was no vegitation on this shore, only dark stone.

A hooded figure stepped forth from the shadows. He moved forward slowly across the sand, approaching a second figure sitting on one of the rocks. After a moment, the second figure spoke.

"I've been to see him. He looks a lot like you."

He just felt confused and empty. "Who are you?"

**011010110110010101111001**

Xurik stepped into the dark square silently; the rain was beginning to pick up. A skyscraper towered overhead, its facade covered in huge electric monitors. He had never been here before, but he had heard it talked about by the Organization - this had to be Memory's Skyscraper, looming over the rest of the city like a guardian. The buzzing of neon lights, as well as the steady beating of raindrops on his cloak and the streets, filled his ears.

More Neoshadows appeared around him; Xurik scowled. What did they want, his heart? Well, they were out of luck. They obviously didn't know what a Nobody was - he had no heart to offer.

**011010110110010101111001**

The Neoshadows snatched at the hem of his robe, barely missing as Xurik leapt up onto the stone ledges of the building, propelling himself off of them into the air as he ran up the building's side, his boots barely managing to grip the dark concrete. Neoshadows jumped high above him in an attempt to take him down during his ascent, but he didn't let them stop him - he slashed at them without hesitation, their dark haze trailing behind him as he scaled the skyscraper. He barely paid them any attention; his furious gaze was focused on Sora. Taking careful aim despite the blinding green light of the monitor, he cried out and threw his Keyblade with all his might - it whirled through the air at the boy. Xurik was close enough now to see Sora's eyes widen with surprise; the boy quickly stepped back, and the Keyblade just barely managed to miss him. Xurik glared, catching the Keyblade as he reached the skyscraper's edge; he deftly flipped up onto the ledge, holding his Keyblade at the ready. Sora stared at him, regret in his eyes.

"Hey, Xurik."

"Don't you dare 'hey Xurik' me!" he said furiously. He clenched his fist, never relinquishing his hold on the Keyblade. "I trusted you, and you let me into a trap!"

Sora shook his head. "No! I didn't know DiZ was going to try to capture you, and neither did Naminé. I really was trying to help you!"

**011010110110010101111001**

A brilliant orb of light flew at him; Xurik barely had a chance to react before it caught him square in the chest. He fell backwards, his rear hitting the wet pavement painfully. He began to stand, but he cried out as a radiant beam pummeled into him. He glared up at Sora, breathing heavily.

"I thought you were giving me a choice."

"If you're still trying to follow through with your plan, I have no choice," Sora said quietly. He raised his sword. "I'm sorry, Xurik, but you have to come with me."

"Xurik!"

An orb of silver light flew out of the shadows, catching Sora in the side; he cried out in pain, stumbling to his knees.

"R...Roxas?" Xurik said, his heart swelling. Sure enough, the blond boy was running towards them. His Keyblade was drawn and ready, and he was glaring at Sora.

**011010110110010101111001**

* * *

_**The 6th Day**_

Xurik sat up in bed, his head pounding. His dreams had been extremely vivid - but the headache made it difficult to focus. His dreams had been about Riku again... hadn't they? Or had they been about Xurik?

He slowly got to his feet, then wobbled, feeling light-headed and dizzy. He felt as if he were still dreaming, and the headache began to muddy up his thoughts; he kept catching himself thinking as if he were Riku instead of Xurik. He _was_ Xurik... wasn't he? No, he was Riku. Or was he... no... no, he wasn't Riku. He was Xurik.

He shook his head uneasily; the pounding began to subside, allowing him to think more clearly. What was going on? He had been dreaming about Riku, but then it switched to dreaming about himself... but that was impossible. He had never done any of the things in those dreams... but they _did_ show him meeting Sora, Roxas, everyone that seemed to know him already. And he had been wearing one of those black hooded robes...

He sighed, stretching; his entire body felt sore and tired. Today was the day that they were supposed to search Twilight Town for some clue as to what had been happening lately; maybe they would find some answers.

* * *

"I'm so tired," Xurik muttered as he walked into the Sandlot, approaching Seifer, Rai, Fuu, and Vivi. "Man... my dreams got even worse last night, you guys..."

When nobody turned around or responded at all, he frowned; why were they ignoring him? He reached out to Seifer - but his hand passed right through his shoulder. Xurik froze - the four friends suddenly turned and began to run off, each one passing through Xurik like smoke. Chills swept over him as he watched them go; what was going on? They couldn't see him or hear him at all... but he could see them. Was this what a ghost felt like? He wasn't still dreaming, was he?

He noticed a photograph lying on one of the benches nearby; he walked over and picked it up. It was a familiar one, with Hayner lying underneath Seifer's triumphant foot; but Xurik realized with growing horror that while he had been in the original photograph alongside his friends, he was completely absent in the picture he was holding. It was as if he had been erased from existance, and no one even knew about him now.

_You... you were never supposed to exist, Xurik._

Naminé's words came back to him now; is this what she meant? He stared up at the sun miserably, then screwed up his face in determination, dropping the photo to the dusty ground. That's it; he had had it with this bullshit. He wanted answers.

"Xurik!"

He turned and saw the familiar blond-haired boy running towards him. He frowned slightly, but stood his ground.

"Roxas."

The boy looked surprised, but pleased. "Oh! Do you... remember me now?"

"It's... starting to come back to me, but not all the way," Xurik said quietly. "Do you... know what's going on?"

Roxas shook his head slowly. "This town... doesn't exist. I don't know how, or why, but that guy in the red... he created this town. It's not the real Twilight Town, it's just a copy made of data."

Xurik scowled. "But that's impossible, I've lived here my whole life! Seifer, and Rai, and-"

"Your memories are fake too," Roxas said quietly. "You came here six days ago... before that you were in the Organization with me and Axel."

"That's impossible."

"You'd better believe it," a third voice said suddenly from behind them. Xurik turned and saw a tall, thin man with spiky red hair walking towards them. He lifted his hand, and suddenly white monsters - Nobodies, weren't they? - began to surround him. "This town is his creation, so that means we don't have time for a Q&A. You're coming with me, concious or not. Then you'll hear the story."

"Axel, what are you doing?" Roxas said angrily.

"Sorry, Roxas," Axel said quietly. "If you're not going to come back willingly, I've gotta take matters into my own hands."

Xurik picked up a stick on the ground; in a flash of light, it transformed into the Keyblade once more. Roxas summonded his own Keyblade as well as the Nobodies began to surround them.

"This guy is supposed to be our friend?" Xurik muttered quietly, glaring at Axel.

"Well... we've been fighting a lot lately," Roxas said bitterly. He clenched his fist, glaring at the Nobodies. "Stop it, Dusks! That's an order!"

"Nope, your orders are to bring back Numbers XIII and XIV. Those orders are straight from Xemnas himself."

The Nobodies suddenly swooped forward, but Xurik and Roxas smashed them away with their Keyblades. The monsters tumbled away, but stopped in midair, coiled themselves up tightly, then flew forward and lashed out at the two boys. Xurik and Roxas dashed around, dodging and striking out with their Keyblades, until finally the last Dusk vanished in a flash of silver light. Xurik glanced at Roxas, panting; this felt too familiar. They both worked amazingly as a team; _had_ they once fought side by side?

"I can't believe this," Axel muttered quietly. He held out his hands; two spiked chakrams appeared in a blaze of flames. He looked at them pleadingly. "For the last time... Xurik, Roxas... just come back home with me. We can be together again!"

"My home is where my friends are," Roxas said fiercely. "So _you_ come with _me_."

Axel hesitated, then lowered his head. "You know I can't do that."

"Then neither can I."

Axel clenched his fist furiously. "Xurik doesn't even remember us, Roxas!"

"Hey!" Xurik said nervously, glancing from Roxas to Axel. "I remember... some things... a little bit..."

Axel suddenly charged forward with a shout - Xurik rushed to Roxas's side, but before he could, the air began to warp around him. Suddenly neither of the boys were moving, frozen in place. Xurik frowned, then narrowed his eyes as he realized that the world had frozen yet again - he was the only thing in motion.

_**Xurik, to the mansion! The time has come!**_

The voice echoed from overhead, and Xurik looked around in bewilderment. The time for _what_? Who was speaking to him? He glanced back at Roxas and Axel. He still wasn't sure if he believed that they were his friends, but... what else could he do? If the mansion was the place to find answers... then he had no choice but to find those answers.

* * *

An orb of light pummelled into Axel's chest, but he knocked it away with a flaming chakram, then dove at Roxas. The younger boy held up his Keyblade, blocking the attacks as Axel beat against his metal, sparks flying everywhere. Roxas gathered all of his strength, then forced Axel backwards. He suddenly stopped, looking around.

"Axel, wait! Xurik's gone." Fire began to run along the ground, encircling them both; Roxas looked up at Axel in surprise. "What are you doing? Xurik's not-"

"I told you. My orders are to bring you _both_ back to the Organization... and I have to destroy you if you refuse to come back with me."

Roxas stared at Axel with pain and disbelief.

"But Axel... we're... best friends, right?"

"Sure..." Axel muttered. "But I'm not getting turned into a Dusk for anyone... not when you don't care enough about our friendship to come back. I've given you a chance."

"So this is it, then."

"Seems like it." Axel grinned. "No hard feelings, right?"

His joking demeanor suddenly vanished as the two boys ran at each other with a shout, metal smashing into metal.

* * *

Xurik pounded his fists against the metal gate in frustration; the huge padlock was still chained across the metal bars, sealing the gate shut. The mansion loomed before him, mocking him. The Nobodies that had been chasing him slithered along the ground towards the gate, gaining on him quickly.

"How do you expect me to get in?" Xurik muttered anxiously, peering back at the Nobodies that were beginning to surround him. He could probably take care of these if he had to, but it would be any moment before Axel unfroze and came for him; there was no time to waste. The voice had told him to come to the mansion, but how could he when the gate was locked? It's not like he could just unlock it himself or-

_Wait a second_. Xurik peered down at the Keyblade in his hand; hadn't Riku unlocked doors with this plenty of times in his dreams? It _was_ a key, after all... but how was he supposed to go about this?

Taking a deep break, Xurik pointed the Keyblade at the thick metal padlock, concentrating on it. Glimmering lights began to swirl around the tip of the key, followed by a shining stream of light that shot out, going deep into the lock. The keyhole began to glow brightly, and suddenly the padlock and chains vanished in a flash of light. The gates swung open with a creak, and Xurik ran through as fast as he could. The white monsters crouched down, then sprang forward, but stopped as a cloaked figure suddenly appeared in a whirl of darkness. The boy held up a glowing sword, facing the Nobodies with a glare. Xurik stopped by the door, then glanced back, staring at the boy with surprise.

"Sora? What are you-"

"Go, Xurik! Naminé's waiting for you!" Sora grinned at the monsters. "I can handle these guys."

Xurik hesitated, then nodded. He pushed open the heavy wooden doors, then stepped forward and found himself in a huge, dusty foyer. The door boomed shut behind him, filling the musty room with a thick silence - a silence which was suddenly broken as a group of Dusks suddenly materialized around him.

"Shit... here too?" Xurik muttered, smashing two of them away with the Keyblade and running past them. He quickly tried to analyze the layout of the building as he ran from the Nobodies pursuing him. If Naminé was in the room with the white curtains facing the front of the mansion, then it would be upstairs and to the left, wouldn't it? He dashed up a flight of stairs as fast as his legs would carry him, glancing around quickly before spotting a small door tucked away to his left. He ran through into the room, slamming the doorway behind him before the Nobodies could get in.

He waited for a moment to see if any more of the monsters would appear, but nothing happened. Finally free to catch his breath, he sighed, then looked around the room for the first time. It was the same room he remembered seeing the day before, when he had been standing outside with Pence; everything from the walls to the furniture was a pristine, blinding white. The only colors in the room were those on countless sketches lining the walls and floor; many of the images he remembered from his dreams. Naminé was nowhere to be seen... so he slowly began to walk around the room, staring at each of the drawings. Riku with Maleficent, Riku on a beach, Riku surrounded by darkness, Riku with Kairi and Sora... it all felt familiar.

He stopped before a drawing of a steel-haired boy in a garden, with a red-haired man and a blond boy beside him. Was that... him? Pain suddenly seared through his head; he cried out in agony, clutching his forehead as images began flashing through his mind.

* * *

**011010110110010101111001**

Xurik, Axel, and Roxas stood in Wonderland, an unconscious Xigbar at their feet. Roxas shook his head fiercely.

"Xurik, if you leave the Organization they're going to turn you into a Dusk too!"

"So what?" he shouted, whirling around to face his friend. "Roxas, there's nothing here for us anymore! The Organization is just using us... do you really think they'll care once we're gone, aside from the inconvenience of losing the Keyblade?"

**011010110110010101111001**

* * *

The headache subsided as Xurik came back to the present. That's right... he _was_ in the Organization, wasn't he? But he left... he didn't remember why, but the details were beginning to resurface hazily. So Roxas and Axel were telling the truth... they _were_ his friends. But if Roxas wanted to stay in the Organization back then, why was he gone now? Axel was the one trying to bring them both back...

Xurik peered at a second drawing. That was Sunset Hill, wasn't it? That was the place he had seen the Ghost Train the day before. Naminé's drawing showed a black-clad Xurik, holding two Keyblades and dangling from the side of the cliff. Roxas and a blue-haired man were standing overhead. His mind began throbbing painfully again as the pictures flowed into his mind once more...

* * *

**011010110110010101111001**

There was a blinding flash of light as something whirled through the air at him - Xurik deftly caught Roxas's Keyblade in his left hand. Saïx's eyes widened in rage.

"Number XIII, you would dare-" he began, but his words were cut off as Xurik charged forward, lashing out at Saïx with both Keyblades. The two weapons beat relentlessly against the man's raised claymore as Saïx slowly began to weaken. Behind him, Roxas lifted his hand - a beam of light shot forward, smashing into Saïx's back. The man fell to his knees, panting.

"Xurik, you have to run!" Roxas shouted. Xurik shook his head.

"You're coming with me."

"But I..."

"Roxas, come on. Think. Do you really think you're safe in the Organization _now_?" Xurik nodded down at the weakened Saïx grimly.

Roxas hesitated, then slowly stepped toward his friend.

It happened in an instant, and neither of them had time to react - Saïx was suddenly back on his feet, swinging the heavy weapon into Xurik's side.

Though the pain was excruciating, he couldn't cry out - the blow had knocked the wind out of him as he went flying backwards. With a sickening splintering sound, he smashed into the wooden fence surrounding the hill; only by jamming his two Keyblades into the dirt and grass was he able to keep from tumbling over the edge of the cliff. Far below him the trains chugged along, blissfully unaware of the fierce battle going on overhead, or the boy dangling precariously from the steep cliffside.

"You have meddled in our affairs for far too long," Saïx said quietly, raising his claymore and preparing to bring it down upon Xurik's head as the boy struggled in vain to regain his footing. "Riku's Nobody or not, you are more trouble than you are worth."

**011010110110010101111001**

* * *

Xurik opened his eyes with a wince, the pain subsiding at last as the memories ended. So those two keymarks in the hillside... _he_ had made those? And he and Roxas had been fighting to escape from the Organization... together. So Roxas being here now made sense...

Xurik shook his head fiercely. What was he doing? Seifer, Rai, Fuu, Vivi... they were all his real friends, weren't they? Was he really entertaining this insanity about false memories, and simulated towns? If memories could be fabricated, who was to say his memories of Roxas and Axel weren't the false ones?

But that still didn't explain everything else that was going on... the Keyblade, or the Nobodies. What was he supposed to believe?

He turned and realized that Naminé was in the room with him now - she was sitting in a chair at the far end of the table. He smiled faintly, then shook his head.

"Naminé... please. What's the truth? Where do I belong?"

Naminé hesitated, then shook her head sadly. "I'm not sure. Nobodies like us... we don't truthfully belong _anywhere_. I suppose... where you really belong is with Riku."

"Then... Roxas and Axel are...?"

"I told you. You're their best friend."

Xurik nodded slowly, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. "But... what _is_ Organization XIV?"

"They're a group of incomplete people who wish to be whole. To that end, they're desperately searching for something."

"What?"

"Kingdom Hearts."

Xurik nodded slowly. That name sounded familiar... but he couldn't quite place it. He stared at the drawing of him, Axel, and Roxas... then looked at the one of him and Riku together. He felt helpless at this point... like his own fate was out of his hands. Roxas, Axel, Sora, Naminé, the man in red... they all seemed to be fighting for a different piece of him. Did he not have a say in his own destiny? Part of him wanted to fight... but what would he be fighting for? Everything he had ever believed about himself was a lie. Finally he turned to the girl, defeated and miserable.

"Naminé... what do I do? What's going to happen to me now?"

"You are-" Naminé began, but suddenly froze. Her image began to flicker - then suddenly fragmented into a million tiny pixels, scattering into nothingness.

"Naminé!" Xurik gasped, reaching out to the empty chair, but froze as a pillar of light and numbers suddenly appeared. When the digital glow vanished, the man with red bandages covering his face was standing behind the empty chair. He gazed at Xurik solemnly.

"There's no knowledge that has the power to change your fate."

Xurik summoned the Keyblade in a flash of light, pointing it at the man with a glare.

"I don't care. I still want to know."

The man smirked. "A Nobody doesn't have a right to know. Nor does it even have the right to _be_."

There was that word again. Naminé and Roxas had called him a Nobody too - but that's also what those white monsters were. Xurik scowled; he had no idea what any of that was supposed to mean, but it seemed to hold the key to what was happening.

"What the hell is a Nobody? Tell me that, at least!"

There was a whirl of darkness in the corner of the room, and Sora appeared, looking worried.

"DiZ, we've gotta hurry! There are Nobodies everywhere - and I think one of the members of the Organization found us!"

A dark portal suddenly sprang up in center of the room. Xurik gasped as he realized that Naminé was standing within it.

"Xurik!" Naminé called out, a look of intensity on her face. "Nobodies like us are only half a person. You won't disappear. You'll be whole!"

"Half... a person?" Xurik muttered.

"No further outbursts!" DiZ said angrily, storming into the portal and grabbing Naminé's forearm roughly.

"I told you, you're half of what Riku is, and-" she began, but was cut off as DiZ put a gloved hand over her mouth, dragging her into the portal.

"Wait!" Xurik said angrily, running at DiZ. Sora looked worried, but clenched his fist.

"DiZ, stop it!"

"Confound it, Sora, we don't have time for this!" The man knocked Xurik away roughly, sending him stumbling backwards; he collided with the tall white chair and toppled over it, crashing into the floor roughly.

"Xurik! We will meet again. And then we can talk about everything!" Naminé said, desperately pushing away DiZ's hands as he attempted to cover her mouth again. "I may not know it's you, and you may not know it's me. But we will meet again. Someday soon. I promise!"

"Naminé!" Xurik called out, pushing himself to his feet and rushing forward - but the moment he reached the dark portal, it vanished into wisps of smoke. Sora looked at him sadly.

"Xurik... I'm sorry," he said quietly, before vanishing in a whirl of shadows.

Xurik clenched his fist, then slammed it angrily against the table. He couldn't stand this...

He looked down at the table - his fist was resting on a drawing of a coat of arms drawn in golden crayon. There were symbols on it - Xurik didn't know what they were, but he recognized them from his dreams. One was a heart with a thorny X through the middle, one was an upside down heart with some kind of tattered cross above it, and one was like the first heart but without the X in the middle. The last one looked especially familiar - hadn't that been the symbol surrounding the stained-glass mosaic of Riku from his dream? There, it had been an empty black heart with a red outline.

Xurik shook his head furiously. What was he doing getting distracted by a drawing? He yanked open the white door and ran out of the room; almost immediately he was accosted by a group of Nobodies in the foyer, but he dodged their attacks and kept running. He didn't know where DiZ or Sora or Naminé had gone, but he'd tear this mansion apart if he had to. He spotted a door across the landing and decided that it was as good a place to start as any. A Dusk flew at him but he slashed it away with the Keyblade, then nearly tore the doorknob off as he pulled the door open, slamming it shut behind him.

Slowing to catch his breath, he peered around him at the room. It was some sort of study. Bookshelves lined the walls, a table was in the center of the room, and a winged bust of a unicorn was staring at the floor... but there was no one inside. He turned to go look elsewhere, but paused when he caught a glimpse of something on the table's surface. Upon closer inspection he realized that the coat of arms from Naminé's drawing was scribbled onto the surface of the table. The only difference was that the central symbol, the heart without an X in the middle, was missing. A yellow crayon was laying on the table beside it, however; Xurik shrugged, then stepped forward and filled the shape in as well as he could. He was no artist, but it was a close enough representation...

To his surprise, the drawing suddenly began to glow brightly. He winced in the sudden light, taking a step back; then realized that the glow was spreading to the floor, until the surface of the floor became a swirling vortex of light. He had no idea what was going on, but he wasn't about to take chances; Xurik ran for the door just as the floor flashed brilliantly a final time. He glanced back, then gasped, realizing that a portion of the floor had vanished, revealing a chamber underneath. Xurik peered down at the cold metal walls and whirring machines; it was like some kind of secret laboratory. He wasted no time running down the stairwell leading into the basement; he finally had a lead.

The stairway led him down deeper into the bowels of the mansion; how expansive _was_ this place? DiZ must have modified this place for his own use. He emerged from a doorway into a large room; he gasped at all of the flashing lights surrounding him. A huge, elaborate computer terminal was set against the wall; monitors on the wall showed scrolling numbers, letters, heartbeat lines, and other things that Xurik had no way of deciphering. What was all of this? He thought back to what Roxas had told him about the town being a simulation... if that was really true, it would take a hell of a powerful computer to do something like that. Xurik peered up at a huge device set against the wall; it looked like some kind of a lazer beam. What was _that_?

He cried out as pain suddenly swept through his mind once more, images flooding inside.

* * *

**011010110110010101111001**

A huge white room was filled with towering silver chairs. In the center of the floor was a huge symbol; Xurik recognized it as the symbol of the Nobodies, and of Organization XIV. Familiar faces hovered over black robes, and Xurik found that he remembered each in turn, even though he had forgotten. Xemnas, Zexion, Saïx, Axel, Marluxia, Roxas... and even him, seated in his own black robe. Number XIV, Xurik.

**011010110110010101111001**

"I'm not gonna-" Sora began, but was cut off as Xurik dashed at him, swinging his Keyblade fiercely. Sora sidestepped the attack. "Xurik, stop-"

"Shut up!" Xurik shouted, smashing his Keyblade into Sora's side. The boy cried out, falling to his knees. "I'm sick of you interfering! Just because you have a heart doesn't give you the right to decide who exists and who doesn't!"

Anger pulsed through him. He didn't even know why... he felt like he had forgetten something important. But just looking at Sora standing near Roxas made him so _angry_...

**011010110110010101111001**

"You're becoming taken over by darkness," Sora said, getting to his feet uneasily. He looked down at Xurik sadly; the boy was writhing in a puddle of thick purple shadow. Neoshadows began to rise from the pavement, clinging to him with their sharp claws, claiming him as their own. "I told you - you can't handle that much darkness. You're not Riku. Darkness comes from the heart - and your heart is within Riku. You're connected to his heart, but it's a delicate thread... and letting yourself be consumed by darkness is severing that thread."

**011010110110010101111001**

"Please, Sora..." Xurik whispered, tears pouring down his face. "Don't let me disappear."

Sora hesitated, but nodded. He stood back and began to radiate with light; the brilliance of Kingdom Hearts above him just added to the glow. "I'm going to save you in the only way I know how... the same way that Kairi saved Riku one year ago." He gave a sad smile. "You won't disappear - you'll be going home. I'm sorry Xurik. I wish things hadn't ended this way... but you really are just like Riku after all."

Xurik winced beneath the darkness. "I guess you're right. But I'm glad... I got to meet you, Sora. Riku has a good friend." He smiled faintly. "At least... now I'll be with her." But who was her? He was the one who said it... but he had no idea what it meant.

Sora smiled back. "I'm glad I got to meet you too, Xurik."

The beam of light finished charging; Sora spread his arms, and light exploded from his chest, coursing into Xurik. The Neoshadows were torn apart; the beam cut through the dark haze around Xurik, and the dark sinews of his skin vanished, replaced by his hooded cloak as the purifying light purged him of darkness.

The last thing Xurik remembered was a blinding light, warmth washing over him, and the sensation of sweet numbness. It felt almost like an embrace - like two warm, gentle arms wrapping around him.

**011010110110010101111001**

Xurik's barely-conscious body lay slumped against the wall, directly beneath the huge beam in DiZ's laboratory. Sora and DiZ were standing over him; Sora looked sad, but DiZ just looked indifferent.

"Are you sure this is gonna work?"

"If we can maintain the simulated town until Naminé finishes chaining together Riku's memories," DiZ said quietly.

Sora nodded slowly, but didn't look happy. "But... what about Xurik? What's gonna happen to him?"

"He holds half of Riku's power within him. In the end, he'll have to give it back." DiZ walked over to the computer terminal and began typing quickly. "Until then, he'll need another personality to throw off his pursuers."

"A whole new life that will only last a few days," Sora mumbled. "I feel so bad for him..."

DiZ shrugged, pressing a few more keys.

"It's the fate of a Nobody."

The beam above Xurik began to charge, glowing with a bright blue light. The light suddenly shot down, immersing Xurik with glowing numbers and fragmented shapes, until finally the boy vanished, downloaded as data into the town.

**011010110110010101111001**

* * *

Xurik opened his eyes, the pain slowly subsiding. That was right... he remembered. Everything... the Organization, Axel, Roxas, endless days spent collecting hearts, his fight with Sora, and finally losing his battle to stay himself. He had accepted his fate then, when it seemed that there was no other option... when darkness had nearly swallowed him whole. Then the man in red changed his entire life, changed his very _memories_... only to throw them away the moment that Xurik was no longer useful to him.

No... he had never even _wanted_ Xurik. It was just a means to get to Riku, to awaken the "real" him.

Xurik clenched his fist, staring at the blinking lights on the computer monitor, keeping track of Riku's vitals and data on the fake Twilight Town. The town he was _in_. His life was being treated like some _toy_...

"Dammit!" he cried out finally, anger exploding out of him as the Keyblade smashed into the computer monitor. Blow after blow struck the terminal, each one punctuated by his own silent bitter thoughts. He had no say in his_ life_, he had no right to _know_, he had no right to_ be_... even the Organization only wanted him for his damn Keyblade. Roxas and Axel... Seifer, Rai, Fuu, and Vivi... the only people who ever cared, and four of them weren't even _real_. Well, technically Roxas and Axel were _also_ Nobodies, so _no one_ who gave a shit about him was really real. Awesome. He let the Keyblade fall at last, his breath panting and ragged. The computer terminal was battered and sparking dangerously, each screen dark and lifeless.

Xurik groaned, running a hand through his hair in frustration. His anger had been vented somewhat, but he was no closer to finding a solution. What was he supposed to do, march boldly into death's door? Naminé said that he wouldn't disappear, but... if he stopped being Xurik, wasn't that the same thing?

He sighed, then stared at the only other doorway in the room. He could turn back, but... that wouldn't solve anything. The only thing to do was go forward.

Xurik cautiously made his way into the next room; vents lined the steel walls, but otherwise the wide room was empty. A second door was on the other side; how big was this place? He began to make his way to the door, but was stopped as a group of Nobodies suddenly appearound, surrounding him. He scowled, summoning the Keyblade.

"I don't have time for this!" he shouted, slashing through two of the Nobodies. He held out his left hand, and it began to radiate with darkness; dark purple flames shot out, eradicating more of the Dusks. He continued to beat his way through the white monsters until finally the last one burst, fragments of silver light fading to the floor. Xurik panted, waiting to see if any more Nobodies appeared, but his attention was diverted when he realized that a man was lurking in the corner.

Axel stepped forward, arms folded as he walked across the room; his expression was bitter and cold.

"Simply amazing, Xurik."

"Axel," Xurik said quietly. He frowned, looking around the room; something wasn't right. "Where's Roxas?"

"He wouldn't listen to reason, and I had no choice but to complete my mission. Just like now." Axel turned to Xurik, scowling. "Not that you remember."

"Axel, I..." He dropped his head desperately. "Please stop this."

"You really do remember me this time?" Axel said sarcastically, then clenched his fist in rage. "I'm _SO FLATTERED_!" As his temper flared, fire encircled the room; two flaming chakrams appeared, whirling until he caught them. Axel slashed them through the air furiously. "But you're too_ late_!"

Xurik gasped, looking around the room for an escape, but it was no use; a wall of flame surrounded them both, leaving no way out. Axel leapt at him and Xurik dodged, blocking his attacks with the Keyblade; Xurik knocked his chakrams away, but they just kept soaring back into Axel's waiting hands. The two clashed in the middle, their weapons struggle furiously against each other.

"Axel, would you give it a rest?"

"I have no _choice_!" Axel shouted, pushing Xurik away and slashing at him; Xurik cried out as one of the blades on Axel's chakrams cut through his shoulder. "I'm not gonna let you both destroy what we all had!"

The metal wheels whistled past his head once more, and Xurik dashed forward, smashing the Keyblade into Axel's side. The man hissed, falling to his knees, but quickly recovered and launched a fireball that caught Xurik in the chest. He stumbled backwards, just barely managing to skid to a halt before running into the wall of flames. It was starting to get seriously hot in the tiny room. Xurik scowled at Axel; this was getting ridiculous. He had to find Naminé and Sora, and fast.

"Don't I get a choice?" Xurik muttered.

"Sorry pal, but that's not on the table right now," Axel snapped, knocking the Keyblade from Xurik's hand.

"I'm sick of everyone telling me what to do!" Xurik shouted, summoning the Keyblade back to his hand in a flash of light. The weapon began to radiate darkness as his anger grew; he slashed it through the air at Axel fiercely, smashing it against the man's chakrams. "This is _my_ life! _I'll_ control my own fate, not _you_, not _DiZ_, not _Xemnas_, _nobody_!"

The reality of everything that was happening came crashing down as his fury built; he was sick and tired of not knowing who he was or what was happening to him. His blows grew more intense as the dark haze began to spread over him. The energy around him suddenly exploded - Xurik opened his eyes and realized that his skin had become replaced by dark sinews, like muscles made of shadows. A tattered white skirt hung around his waist, and a silver Nobody symbol was plastered across his chest. It was just like before, in the battle in front of Memory's Skyscraper... or with Riku when he became a Heartless. Xurik could feel the dark power coursing through his veins, and he stared at Axel with a quiet intensity. The man looked shocked, but shook his head in determination.

"Darkness isn't gonna save you!"

Axel dashed forward, but Xurik held up his hand; a pulse of dark energy exploded out of it, sending the man flying painfully to the ground. Xurik walked forward, pointing his Keyblade at the prone man.

"Let me go."

Axel looked worried for a moment, but scowled and shook his head fiercely. "Never!" He suddenly cried out in pain as a beam of darkness flew out of the Keyblade, piercing him through the chest. He shakily got to his feet, but faltered, panting with exertion. At last the flames covering the room began to subside, until finally the last few embers died away. The dark sinews faded from Xurik's skin like inky smoke, replaced by his usual clothes, as he walked forward slowly.

"Axel..."

Axel glanced up at him, then grinned sadly. "Let's meet again in the next life."

Xurik hesitated, then gave him a sad smile. "Yeah. You, me, and Roxas... we can all have ice-cream together again."

Axel gave a quiet chuckle, then looked up at Xurik. His breath began to grow more ragged as shadows engulfed him weakly. "Silly. Just because you have a next life..."

The shadows slowly covered him, until finally they faded away like smoke, leaving Xurik alone. He sighed, a pain shooting through his chest... he just felt miserable. What good was finding himself if he had to fight off all of his friends to do it? Finally he took a deep breath, staring resolutely at the door before him. It was time to move on... then, maybe he would find some kind of resolution.

* * *

Xurik slowly walked down the corridor of the following room, staring up at the odd devices lining the walls. They looked like white flowerbuds, or some kind of bizarre pods... what were they? It was like something out of a sci-fi movie. He slowly made his way down the hallway, passing through a doorway into a huge white room - then stopped as he saw DiZ standing directly in front of him. An enormous pod was in the center of the room, connected to the ceiling and floor with an elaborate system of pipes, tubes, and wires. DiZ was standing between him and the pod, smirking at him.

"At last, the Keyblade's chosen one."

Xurik glared at him bitterly. "Who, me? Or are you talking about Riku?"

"I'm talking about half of Riku, of course," DiZ said calmly. "You reside in darkness. What I need is someone who can move about the realm of light and destroy Organization XIV."

"Why? What are you trying to use Riku for?"

"I am a servant of the world." The man suddenly chuckled darkly. "And if I'm a servant, then you should consider yourself a tool, at best."

"You're the tool!" Xurik snapped, summoning the Keyblade. He ran forward, slashing at the man, then froze; the Keyblade hadn't even touched the man, merely passing through him in a wave of numbers and lights. Xurik tried again, with similar results. Was this guy even real?

"My apologies. This is only a data-based projection."

Xurik raised his Keyblade to strike out at the man again, but stopped, clenching his fist but barely managing to contain his anger.

"Where the hell do you get off trying to control people's lives?"

"It's hardly anything personal," DiZ said calmly. "Tis the fate of the Keybearer. I need Riku... and Riku needs you."

Without another word, DiZ vanished in a pillar of data. Xurik scowled, slashing his Keyblade through the air - but the man didn't reappear. After a moment of uneventful silence, he sighed. What now?

Xurik looked up at the pod, then felt his chest seize up inexplicably. What was going on? His eyes widened as he realized that, after all of this, there was only one thing that could be inside. Sure enough, as he took a step forward, the pod began to glow brightly. Metal petals coating the outside began to lower slowly, unpeeling as they unveiled their inner layer. Xurik felt a pang in his chest as he saw a boy floating within. His silver hair was longer than he remembered, and he was a bit taller and his clothes a bit tighter, but there was no doubt about it. This was the boy from his dreams... the one whose shadow he lived in, even when he didn't know it.

"Riku..."

At long last he was face to face with himself. The Keyblade vanished from Xurik's hand as he stepped forward, peering up at Riku. Hot tears began flowing from his eyes, a wave of complicated emotions washing over him. He had been resisting this moment for days... no, months. But now, for the first time ever, he began to actually feel like he was going home. And yet...

Memories of Roxas, Axel, Naminé, Seifer, Rai, Fuu, and Vivi flooded his mind. Would he never see them again?

_But Sora, and Kairi... I miss_ them, _too_.

He felt himself growing weaker, as if his strength was flowing out of him. Was this the end? Xurik clutched his chest... the place where his heart would be if he had one. Riku did... and now, Riku needed his other half back.

"I'm... jealous of you," Xurik murmured, staring up at the face that looked so much like his own. "I wanted to have my own destiny... but I was just borrowing it from you." The tears were blurring up his vision now, but he could still see Riku's peaceful expression, obscured by long silver bangs. "I guess... it's time for you to have your life back. I just wish I didn't have to give... mine."

Xurik could feel himself slowly fading away as Riku began to glow with a silver light. It was time.

_Roxas, Axel, Naminé, Seifer, and everyone else..._

He looked up at Riku a final time, then closed his eyes tightly, trying to keep the tears in.

_Goodbye._

The last thing Xurik remembered was a blinding light, warmth washing over him, and the sensation of sweet numbness. It felt almost like an embrace - like two warm, gentle arms wrapping around him.


End file.
